I want to thank those of you who have been following me on this blog, especially those who may have bookmarked it and checked in regularly.  Your support is much appreciated. 

However, from now on, I'll be blogging at www://sydellvoeller.blogspot.com--which is now connected to this website.  You can access it, as you have before with the former blog, by going to my website home page (www.sydellvoeller.com) and clicking on the "Blog" link.  Please visit me there for future writing tips, personal news, and updates about my book releases!  I'll look forward to seeing you.

Great news Everyone!  My reissue of my book Free to Love has gone live on Amazon Kindle yesterday!  This story is near and dear to my heart because the "seed plot" idea was sparked by some happenings involving two very close family members.  Also, as you'll see, this is another romance staged on a beach setting in a fictious town on the Oregon coast.  While this book iincludes all the delcious sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the seashore, there is also a more serious theme:  rescuing the beaches and marine wildlife from man's mistakes.

One year after Joanna Sullivan’s husband, Kyle, a firefighter, has been killed while battling a house fire, Joanna makes a desperate attempt to start over. She moves to a new town, embarks on a new career at the local coastal aquarium, and attempts to refurbish a dilapidated duplex. Then Austin, her husband’s brother, visits unexpectedly He offers to stay and help her with the much needed repairs.

Joanna soon discovers, however, that Austin’s presence is proving more disturbing than helpful. His resemblance to Kyle is uncanny, thwarting her resolve to put her husband’s memory to rest. Worse, she is strongly attracted to Austin. Austin, a veterinarian, shares Joanna’s love of nature, and the two find much common ground as they team up to help clean up the beaches and save the native birds and wildlife from the encroachment of civilization.

Can Joanna let go of her grief and love Austin in his own right? Or will he always remain the a painful reminder of her late husband?

Here is the buy link at Amazon Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Free-to-Love-ebook/dp/B008GTHB36/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341335600&sr=1-1&keywords=free+to+love+kindle+voeller

As many realize by now, there are some big changes happening in the publishing industry!  Recently Avalon Books, the publisher of many of my hardbound books, was purchased by Amazon.  The prices for the books have been greatly reduced on the Amazon website, so if anyone is interested in making a purchase, now is the time to do so.  Also, I'm willing to sell some of my own supply of books at a reduced price, so if you'd rather buy from me directly, please leave me a message with your email in my Guest Book o this website. 

Here is my Author's Page on Amazon where the books are listed: 

http://www.amazon.com/Sydell-Voeller/e/B001JRZ0DU

Have a wonderful weekend an Happy Reading! 

Sydell Voeller

Several years ago when I struck up an interest in amateur astronomy, my passion for that soon became mirrored in some of my books. In the beginning, I took a basic “backyard astronomy” class at a local community college and used my dad’s old binoculars, which weren’t too bad, in terms of their clarity. (I even identified a few of the closer galaxies in them—a thrill for a beginner!) Soon my basic education wasn’t enough to satisfy me, and I joined the Rose City Astronomers here in Portland, Oregon. I purchased“giant” binoculars, specifically intended for stargazing—the kind sold in catalogues for telescopes. And I chose the binoculars instead of a telescope because I loved the flexibility in being able to sweep the skies, as opposed to staying “stuck” in one part of it. 

Today it's my pleasure to introduce Roseanne Dowell, whose delightful book Designed for Love is available on Amazon Kindle. Welcome, Roseanne! 

Here's the book blurb: 

Fate, kismet, or whatever you want to call it is, it turned Interior Designer, Wendy Seidel’s world upside down. From a chance meeting at the airport to Florida and back to Ohio, she can’t believe the strange circumstances that throw her and Bill Johnson together, after he literally knocks her off her feet at the airport. Will life ever return to normal?  

My take on the book:  Told in the points of view of Bill and Wendy, in first hand accounts, it is really hilarious to know how they were thinking. Taking a lighthearted approach, the author made falling in love fun as in going through a water slide. Wendy and Bill are two easy going, hopeful and sometimes blithe. They take their heart seriously though. So when the stirrings of love began, though avoiding it was hopeless, treading lightly was the only step they could take. An easy read that will put smile to your face.

To read further reviews and buying info, please see Part 2.

- Well, first I'd enlist the aid of some really great minds and try to figure out how to educate the people of this planet so that we could live in peace. I'd give everyone in my family enough money to indulge their favorite fantasy and I'd save a big chunk to travel to all over the world - and I'd do it first class all the way. (You did say "big time".)

6. Who is your favorite writer and why? Do I have to limit myself to one?

- That's tough. Like most writers, there are so many that I admire, each for a different reason. Okay, if I have to pick one, I'll say William Faulkner. Why? Because, to me, his characters are the most complex in literature. I know his prose is difficult, his style verbose, but that's part of the attraction. He's a challenge. I can read his books again and again and find something new in them every time. Would I ever try to write like him? Absolutely not! He's totally unique. No one else could get away with what he did..

7. What will thwart your creativity the most quickly?

- Thinking too much. Asking myself "Can do this?"

8. What has brought you the greatest joy in seeing your dream of publishing fulfilled?

- Seeing my name on the cover of a real book. The pure, sensual pleasure of holding the book in my hands. No fingers and toes to count, but surely the next best thing.

1. Sandy, tell us a little about your most recent book with a brief synopsis. Also, was there an idea in particular that inspired you to write it? Where can the book be purchased? 

- LOVE AND NOT DESTROY is a traditional mystery. A baby is found in a basket on the grounds of a small-town museum during their annual Folk Festival. Twenty-two years later, a homeless man is murdered in the exactly the same spot. Connection? Or coincidence? Peace Morrow, the foundling, now an adult working at the museum, is haunted by this question and begins a quest that explores the nature of family, of loyalty and responsibility. As she tries to reconstruct the victim's history, his story becomes entangled with her own search for family roots. Her journey leads her through the dusty boxes in the museum’s storage area, to an antique market in a tiny hamlet in northern Pennsylvania, and, ultimately, to the innermost reaches of her own heart. What inspired me to write this particular story? It wasn't an idea, but something concrete. Literally. A concrete building. The picture of the castle on the cover is a real building and it's constructed of concrete. It's ... you guessed it ... a museum in the town where I live and is the sort of place that sets the imagination racing. The book is available through Amazon; the link is http://amzn.to/wxIV81  or, of course, you can go to Amazon and type in my name and/or the title. If you would like to learn more about this book or my other books, please visit my website: http://www.sandracareycody.com

2.   Is there a person in your life who influenced you the most to become a writer?

- I'd have to say my mother. She read to my brothers and me constantly when we were young. Even after we were old enough to read for ourselves, she continued to read to us, not necessarily from children's books, but from books she enjoyed herself, anything that she considered a good story. She was one of five sisters and, growing up, I loved to listen to them play can-you-top-this with the (supposedly true) stories they told. I was fascinated that, even when they were talking about the same event, the details were different. I think that's where I learned the importance of point of view and that the devil is indeed in the details.

3. Do you have an inspirational picture or quote that you look to when you have a case of "writer's block"?

- Interesting question. I never thought of it like that before. have a copy of William Faulkner's Nobel acceptance speech on my computer. Sometimes, when I get stuck, I'll open that file and read it over. The bit about "the human heart in conflict with itself" reminds me what makes a good story and helps me find the heart of the story I'm trying to tell.

4.  If you could be anything other than a human, what would it be?

- I'd be a bird. A hawk, I think, not because I want to be a hunter, but because I love watching the way they move through the air - swooping and soaring. It's like watching a ballet where the dancers are unfettered by gravity - total freedom of movement. In reality, I'm pretty klutzy. Maybe that's why I am so fascinated by such pure grace.

It's time to start thinking ahead to summertime and summer reading!  Here in western Oregon in March, we had  the highest recorded rainfall for the past fifty-some years!  It is indeed time for sunshine and warmer weather... 

My latest reissued e-book, Her Sister's Keeper, published by Books We Love Ltd. went live on Amazon Kindle this morning.  So if you're dreaming of summertime in the country, gazing at meteor shows on crisp dark nights, horseback riding in the hills, and camping under the stars, please take a moment to check it out this delightful summer romance: 

http://www.amazon.com/Her-Sisters-Keeper-ebook/dp/B007ULHBXQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334590183&sr=1-1

After Merry Christmas, Marcie was published, a spin-off evolved--Summer Magic.  Now an older Marcie has emerged (I changed her name to Lisa), plus the central conflict has taken on on a slightly different twist.  Lisa, now a certified veterinarian assistant, accepts a job to work for the circus vet whom we met in the first story.  Although she realizes the earlier assistants had lasted only a short time because the vet was so difficult to please, Lisa is willing to take on the challenge.  She needs money to pay off medical bills following a serious snowboarding accident.  Soon, however, Lisa questions her ability to pass her probation, especially as one calamity with the circus animals follows another.  Even Michael, the dashing trapeze artist whom she’s strongly attracted to, expresses his doubts, which disheartens her further.  Still worse, Michael will not follow her if she leaves.  Recently, he’d given up circus life to work on "the outside" and was totally miserable.  He knew he had to get back to the circus, no matter what.  Again a barrier looms between Lisa and Michael:  she, the “townie” who will always most likely end up on the outside again, and he, the devoted circus performer who will always stay.