Stephen White - Alan Gregory discussion

I know we have a lot of group reads going on but here's one more idea I thought I'd throw at you to consider :-) A couple of you have mentioned that you like the idea of the author being available for group read discussions. There are several Goodreads Authors who are active on this site and many love to promote their books in any way they can :-)

Is anyone interested in a Goodreads Author Group read? I could see who is willing to join us, I'll try to get at least a few authors/titles to choose from and they would need to fall in the Mystery/Thriller Genre. Most likely these will be lesser known titles and authors.

If there's enough interest from Stephen White group members, I'll get started on this soon. If we do this, how long would you like the GR Author Group Read to last - 1 1/2 months, 2 months? Of course nobody is required to participate in any group read, but this would just be another option :-) Please share your thoughts. Thanks

I think it is a good idea. As I have said in other posts, I like to hear about an author's process. One thing I would like you to consider when setting this up is that we do have a couple of group reads happening right now and if we could schedule something into May or June that would work for me. I also think that we should have it last only a month. I think we would more likely to read the book together and less likely to lose interest in the subject.

Thanks Christine! I think we could do May or June and one month is fine with me :-) I am also open to changing the time frame for our other group reads if people think a 3-month span of reading is too much :-) You made a good point about people not actually reading the book at the same time.

Here are two titles by Goodreads Authors willing to join our discussion. I'll keep rounding up more :-) I thought I'd put a handful of titles on a poll and the ones that don't win can be in the running (along with new titles hopefully) for the next time.

No Greater Sacrifice would be similar to a Dan Brown novel.

So the only problem with this Goodreads Authors Read is these are going to be lesser-known titles so they might not be as readily available. Our local libraries might not have them and if you have to do a special request for purchase or inter-library loan, that could take a while. How much time do you think we should have between selection of a title and the beginning of the group read? one week for the poll and then one month to find the book? or is that too long? Share your thoughts if you have any. I'm still working on finding more titles to choose from :-) Thanks

on second thought, I think a 3-day poll would be better :-)

Just looking at the availability and cost of each of these titles can be a bit daunting. For those of us who have Kindles, you can get No Greater Sacrifice for $3.99. My library cannot get that book but I am able to get A Real Basket Case thru a special request after the spring breaks on April 23rd. I am in a major metro area with access to multiple county libraries as well as university libraries and these books are hard to come by.

No Greater Sacrifice is pretty recent - none of the libraries I'm associated with currently have it - I'd have to request it for purchase. Maybe we can do that one at a later time. If your interested in this please suggest it to your local libraries. I can get A Real Basket Case (actually I have it checked out right now) because I already got my library to purchase it - the author lives in Colorado :-)

Great News! I have another author interested who has several titles published. His name is Vincent Zandri. I can get the following two titles through inter-library loan:

Another author willing to take part in discussions is Ed Lynskey

but I checked my libraries and the only titles in the catalog is his book of Poetry The Tree Surgeons Gift
and book #3 in a series:
The Blue Cheer: P.I. Frank Johnson Mystery #3

At this point I think Vincent Zandri is our best bet to start with until we can get some of the other books. I'd like to start the Group Read sometime in May and have it last one month. Here is Vincent's website:
http://www.vincentzandri.com/

Vincent is also willing to list books as giveaways on goodreads. If you haven't discovered this feature on goodreads yet, Click the "Find Books" tab at the top of any Goodreads page and there is a link to books that are currently listed as giveaways. It's easy to enter. You will have to give a mailing address which the author/publisher has agreed to only use for shipping the book if you win.

Here is another title to consider by an author who lives in the U.K. His pen name is Timothy Pilgrim. This is another title that won't be readily available but we might be able to get to it later if there's interest:

So far, only Christine has given feedback on this new group read. I hope other people are interested because I have exciting news......

We might not be doing a poll afterall, or if we do a poll it might just be titles that have been offered to our group as FREE COPIES!

Would you be willing to send me or the author a shipping address via message?
Would you be willing to comment in the book discussion (in this group)?
Would you be willing to rate and review the book?

If so, you are eligible for a free copy of a book we will be discussing with a Goodreads Author. I'm not sure which titles are available yet :-) I'll keep you posted.

Okay, we won't be using the poll to decide our first Goodreads Author Group Read. Plan on the group read discussion to start sometime in May as soon as we all get our FREE BOOKS!

The title is Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri



I hope this change in plans doesn't cause too much upset - hopefully, you're excited :-) We can now start discussing what title we'll choose for the next Goodreads Author Group Read and if we get an offer of more free titles, I'll keep you posted :-)

Goodreads info on the book we'll be reading:

In MOONLIGHT FALLS, novelist and photo journalist Vincent Zandri asks the question "If you knew your life could end at any moment, how far would you go to prove you murdered your lover? "

Albany, New York, is the setting of Zandri's paranoid thriller (in the Hitchcock tradition) about Richard "Dick" Moonlight, former APD detective turned private investigator/massage therapist, who believes he killed Scarlet Montana - his illicit lover and wife of his ex-boss, Chief of Detectives Jake Montana. The problem is ... Moonlight doesn't remember what happened because he’s got a small fragment of a .22 hollow point round buried inside his brain, lodge directly up against his cerebral cortex. It's the result of a botched suicide attempt four years prior to the novel’s start, and an operation to remove the bullet fragment would be too dangerous.

But the bullet causes Moonlight lots of problems, the least of which are the occasional memory loss and his rational ability to tell right from wrong...

Please send shipping addresses via goodreads message ASAP if you are interested. The group read for Moonlight Falls will be held during the month of May (May 1st-31st) Thanks.

This sounds good. Yes, to all of the above. I will send address via message, discuss on goodreads and rate and review.

A Free Book! How awesome! Thank you!

Thanks for your interest Christine :-) Hopefully more people will be interested too! Vincent said he can do a pretty quick turnaround on shipping (about one week) after getting shipping addresses. This should give plenty of time for the books to arrive before May.

The discussion thread for Moonlight Falls has now been created :-)

Here's a link where you can read chapter one of this book for free: http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/book/6...

So far, I've only got Christine's & my own address to give to Vincent. Haven't sent them yet, as I wanted to send them all at once. In case you don't know, here's how to message through goodreads:
1)click on my profile picture
2)on my profile there is a "Send Message link" (right next to "Add as a Friend" - if you are my goodreads friend , the link is right below "Dustin is your friend")

dustin, i am interested but i probbly can't send my address until thursday. i lost my internet for a few days and i am on the phone.

Jan wrote: "dustin, i am interested but i probbly can't send my address until thursday. i lost my internet for a few days and i am on the phone."

That will be fine. I'll send any addresses I have to Vincent late Thursday Night so everyone please try to get them sent in either today or tomorrow. Thanks!

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79...
The Serpent and the Stag is a book by a Goodreads Author. For some reason it doesn't come up in goodreads searches but the above link will take you to the book. The book is only available as an e-book but Julie is willing to provide us with a code to read it for free if it's chosen as a group read.

Here's Julie's Author Profile and there is a link to The Serpent and the Stag from there :-)

Julie Ann Maahs

Here is a new book. It's not a mystery/thriller - more of a Travel Memoir, but the author is willing to join our discussion if it is chosen as a group read.


Turn Left At The Trojan Horse by Brad Herzog

Darcia Helle is a Mystery/Suspense author willing to join group discussions. She has 5 published titles:
1.Enemies and Playmates
2.Hit List
3.No Justice
4.Beyond Salvation
5.Miami Snow

I haven't gotten any new offers for free books, but I'll keep you posted :-)

Feel free to comment about which titles you're interested in reading. We could read The Serpent and The Stag since Julie has offered to give us a code to read her e-book. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

The Serpent and the Stag
Oh good, her book is coming up in Goodreads searches now :-) I like the idea of a free code to read an e-book, how about you?

I requested some of these titles for either Inter Library Loan or Purchase at my local library :-( here was their response:

Unfortunately, “The Day the Ravens Died” by Timothy Pilgrim, and “No Greater Sacrifice” by John C. Stipa are not available for us to ILL (fewer than 10 US libraries own them), and we have decided not to purchase them for our collection.

They are, however, going to purchase the first book in the series by Ed Lynskey:



Please let me know if you have any luck getting these titles at your library. Thanks.

Here is the link to Darcia Helle's website:

http://www.quietfurybooks.com/

she has a giveaway for one of her books every month and also special 48 hr giveaways :-) thought y'all might be interested

She also mentioned that she will sometimes put one of her books in the Book Swap program so you just have to pay shipping.

Message from Nathan Henrion:
I'll throw my book on to the pile. Its now the #1 most downloaded suspense/thriller on smashwords. Best yet, its 100% free. I just picked up a nice review from author Scott Nicholson (The Red Church and The Skull Ring):

"If you like dark and violent crime fiction in the mode of Jack Ketchum, Dennis Lehane, and Joe Lansdale, you'll enjoy this briskly paced suspense thriller. It has some paranormal spice and a strong, if a bit raw, storytelling voice. Henrion has potential and I look forward to following his evolution as he hones his craft and masters his natural storytelling abilities."

Even if you don't pick it for a book club, please feel free to download the ebook.

link to download: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...

The Kult by Shaun Jeffrey

I recently read this one with another group - 6 free copies have been offered if we choose it as a group read. I will message group members about it soon :-)



btw, this title is also currently listed as a goodreads first reads giveaway, but even though math wasn't my best subject, I can tell you - the chances of getting a copy are much better here!

FYI - Boulder Public Library has agreed to purchase the following 4 titles for their collection. They'll be added to their next order. If you're interested in them and can't get them through your local library, you may be able to get them through Inter-Library Loan, especially if you live in Colorado :-)

Wow, The Kult has mostly good reviews on Goodreads, with a few people who thought it was ok or didn't like it. It looks like an entertaining read.

Good work getting your library to request those titles, Dustin. I have trouble getting titles by lesser known authors or small/self-published companies at either of the library districts I use, and my ILL requests haven't been successful.

(Edited to take out the link because it was to a different book.)

I have library cards for 4 different libraries in the area, so if one doesn't give me what I want, I just go to the next one :-)

I have just sent everyone an invite to take a poll. I'm assuming everyone wants to start the next group read on June 1st, but with all the offers we're getting for free books, I'm willing to overlap them a little. We don't want to have too many titles going at once - Do we already? :-) but I know everyone isn't going to be interested in every title either.

I liked the Kult but I can understand why it might not be for everyone :-) It's a mystery/thriller but would probably be categorized as "Horror" by most people. There are graphic, gruesome murders that take place. I gave it 5 stars and I wrote a review on goodreads. I read the Kult with the Horror group that I belong to and enjoyed having Shaun Jeffrey available to answer questions/comment.

Dustin wrote: "I have library cards for 4 different libraries in the area, so if one doesn't give me what I want, I just go to the next one :-)

I have just sent everyone an invite to take a poll. I'm assuming e..."

I love how many libraries now are linked county wide. Searching for books online and placing holds online is fantastic. I still have trouble finding certain titles but usually the library is cool enough to purchase books I recommend.

The library district that I belong to is tiny and doesn't have the budget to purchase many books. The one where I am a guest (next county over) is great, but as a guest, I'm not allowed to request purchases.

If I request an ILL from my local library and the book can be found in Colorado, I can get it. But if it can be found only out of state, there is a minimum $5.00 shipping charge.

Boulder Public Library is currently trying to get me a title from out of state (only 7 libraries in the country have this title) but they didn't mention any additional charge. If the library is going to charge that much, I think it'd be better just to buy the book.

That's what I thought, too. Especially since I don't know if the $5 includes postage for mailing it back or if that is additional. The charges might just be something my library does because of its tiny budget.

I'd be happy to request hard to find books through my libraries and then you can ILL them :-) just let me know. Does your library participate in Prospector? With Prospector you can search participating Colorado/Wyoming libraries yourself and request ILL rather than having to go through a librarian at the reference desk. Boulder Public Library is part of Prospector but Lafayette Public Library isn't and I use both libraries.

Sorry, I've managed to get us off topic.

Thank you for the nice offer. But I think you have enough of your own you like to request.

Hmmm, I don't know about Prospector, but don't think so. I can do an online request for an ILL through my local library but can't do a search first to see if the book is in Colorado. I'll have to see if I can find out more.

Actually it's not off-topic because many Goodreads Authors are hard to find in libraries :-)
What are the names of your libraries?

Yes, I have found that with other Goodreads authors I want to read, too.

I use the Ute Pass branch of the Pikes Peak Library District the most, but also use the Woodland Park branch of the Rampart Library District. That is the one I use to request ILLs. The Ute Pass branch is tiny but the people there are wonderful!

Okay, I looked up your libraries :-) They don't participate in Prospector. Actually Prospector seems to be mainly Boulder libraries, Denver Libraries, Jefferson County Libraries, Wyoming Libraries and University Libraries

Your Libraries both participate in the ILL program that Lafayette Public Library (my local library) is a part of - called Colorado Virtual Libray. Here's the link:

http://www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org...

Unfortunately, Lafayette Public Library did not purchase these most recent titles that I posted but, they do have Beth Groundwater (Colorado Springs Author) and The Kult by Shaun Jeffrey (yep I got them to buy those :-)

FYI: I'm more familiar with Prospector. I haven't used the Colorado Virtual Library - my Lafayette librarians do the searching for me :-) but it looks like you can search for titles in the entire state.

Not sure I can commit to starting another group read yet; I am still waiting for my copy of Moonlight Falls to arrive, and am also still looking for a copy of Await Your Reply. I do have Weight of Silence, but am trying to finish a free book I got from Goodreads first. I do like the group reads, and want to continue, just having to slow down a little for right now.

Wow, thank you, Dustin! That link is great. Now I can search for anything I can get as an ILL in Colorado and request it online through my Rampart Library District. Much more convenient.