Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Thoughtful

An extremely thoughtful reader left this Amazon review for Shadows of Damascus:

"If you do not read this book you are missing a remarkable 'works from the heart.' This is a 'first-hand' account. Here we have the clear opportunity to follow the prior life based logical reasoning of a young woman who's entire life is blown to bits by a war and then counter-war in her middle-east country. How she is saved from those that would 'use' her and, her attempts to conform to a western civilization culture are the underlying themes of the book, but in addition there is another theme that everyone needs to read and absorb, which is the cultural difficulties which she AND her associates must go through. I will say no more other than I found it gripping, enlightening, sometimes difficult to understand the emotional stances of the characters, but in the final analysis I found this a very strong 5 star book. I only wished I understood more about the fundamentals of middle east thinking. You will find yourself caring very much about the destinies of the principal characters."

For a writer dipping her toes in the published world like myself, it's very rewarding to see that my intentions for writing this story came through the script.

Monday, June 15, 2015

CRW 2015 Award of Excellence Contest Finalist

I'm pleased to announce that my novel Shadows Of Damascus was chosen as a finalist in the Mainstream w/Romantic Elements category of the Colorado Romance Writers 2015 Award of Excellence Contest. To see the finalists list on the CRW website, click here. Winners will be announced at the CRW conference in Denver, Colorado on August 8, 2015.




Sunday, June 7, 2015

BITTER ALMONDS Excerpt

"They told five-year old Fatimah not to turn around, but no one told her to close her eyes. No one told her not to listen. She pressed her face against the window, a rag doll forgotten in her lap. Quiet rain speckled the cold glass, and ..."



Read the first chapter of my upcoming novel Bitter Almonds, to be released August 13, on my revamped website lilastaha.com