I'm Moving

I'm moving from this blog to 

my NEW Wordpress Blog

Because 

I have a New Book!

The Pharaoh and the Librarian

 Please Come Along on the Journey

What if Cleopatra faked her death? 

While her sister sailed for Wales with the most valuable ancient books from her Library of Alexandria? And they both landed in an imagined new world filled with crypto-creatures and historical humans? 

Trekking the desert of 1st century New Mexico, Cleo from the Yucatan and Alex from Nova Scotia, they’d need bravery and help from friends and lovers to evade inner demons and determined villains across an uncharted wilderness.

Alternate history- Fantasy-Romance - Adventure!

I'll be leaving up the 250+ posts on Wordshaping. There are great book reviews, interviews, and lots of memories of people and books. There just won't be more.

Please follow me to my New Blog and click on:

to follow me there.

 Why? To receive fun posts about Alternate History and Crypto-creatures.

You can also find me on Facebook. Like me there to learn about special sales and events.

 

Old Town Albuquerque Christmas 2014

What Do 135 Christmas Trees Look Like?

The weekend before Thanksgiving I went to Albuquerque for the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards banquet. As an aside my book Heads in the Clouds did win the Romance category. But even without that thrill spending a weekend in Old Town Albuquerque at the elegant Hotel Albuquerque was a delight.

Shops, museums, art, lots of jewelry. And chilies – hanging from rafters and mixed into luscious New Mexico dishes.

While visiting the historic old San Felipe de Neri church on the Old Plaza, I noticed a tall pole with skeleton-like protrusions in the Plaza Don Luis. Left over from the Day of the Dead celebration? I didn't think so.

When a bucket truck arrived and placed a pine tree on the top, I asked the clerk at the gift shop, located in the Sister Blandina Company that once housed the Sisters of Charity, what was happening. Then I saw a flatbed truck pull up with a lot more, really a lot more, trees. And workers began inserting trees into the skeleton from the top down.

As the day progressed, so did the tree, until one hundred and thirty-five (135) trees merged into one gigantic tree.

Workers continued to decorate the the tree with lights, white snowflakes, and red bows until the glorious tree was complete!

Christmas (on Wherever Island) is Free

Fly Off to a Caribbean Island for Christmas?

Christmas on Wherever Island by Amber Polo

A Magic Santa brings Caribbean Christmas Joy!

Marti Bell is facing the prospect of a very unmerry Christmas. Reluctantly, leaving her married lover she travels toward ice, snow, and judgmental family until a magic Santa sends her to a surprise destination in the warm waters of the Caribbean.  

Wherever Island would be a winter paradise except the only place to stay is the beachside cottage of romantic globetrotting photographer Cliff Holmes. Cliff wants to unwind and treat Marti to a little romantic Caribbean Christmas fun but she’s determined to stay in the warm ocean and out of hot water. 

  “Not only is the setting sensational, the hero will sweep you off your feet…this is one story I can read every Christmas season. …a great happily ever after story.”  Gotta Read Reviews

Novella in ebook only

Christmas on Wherever Island
Kindle

I put 3,000 people to sleep!

 The writer's goal is not to put readers to sleep.

But when I teach relaxation that is sometimes my student's goal.  I uploaded my Prelude to Sleep audio to Insight Timer's Free Guided Meditations. Over 3,000 4,000 people have tried it and the reviews are great!
(Not sure how a sleeper can review, but I am not complaining.)

Try Prelude to Sleep. 

Timer is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. (free or with an optional $4.99 upgrade) 

 Prelude to Sleep is also available 

as audio download track 

and even an old-fashioned CD. 

Buy Links 

 iTunes cdbaby CD album and MP3 download Amazon CD

   Insight Timer – Meditation Timer

I love this app! The bell quality is excellent. The options to set presets of times and bells is amazing. I can set the time I want to meditate, the number of beginning and ending bells, and choose interval bells - random bells to call my mind back from random thinking. Seeing who in the world is meditating now is nice support if you need reminders that you are not alone.

There’s also a log or journal and statistics available for record-keeping meditators.

Some of the extras are a little odd. Like posting when you’re meditating on Twitter or sharing your milestones on Facebook.

Developers say 3/4 million meditators worldwide call Insight home and every day the community generates over 600 days of collective meditation.

 Insight Timer is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play (free or with an optional $4.99 upgrade)

Released - Kindle Edition Free!

Free January 14-18

"Released"
The Shapeshifters' Library: Book 1

 Love dogs and books and light shifter stories?

“Released” is free  on Kindle
And 
"Retrieved" (bOOk 2)
only $.99
A great way to start the series
continuing with 
Recovered (#3)
and 
Reprinted (#4)

The series Kirkus calls
 "A fanciful read that remains loyal to its noble principles."
***
"Ms. Polo has taken the old, tired mythology of shapeshifters
and created a wonderful new concept based on the intelligence of dogs..."
Deborah Riley-Magnus
***
Read an excerpt
and 
  Watch the series trailer  

 

More Dog Mystery Book Reviews

Unleashed by  Eileen Brady (A Kate Turner DVM Mystery)

Poisoned Pen, 2015

Reviewed by Amber Polo

Kate Turner, working as a veterinarian in an small house-call practice, learns one of her clients has committed suicide. Dr. Kate refuses to believe her artist friend, with much to live for, would have killed herself leaving her Cairn Terrier Toto in the animal hospital with no instructions. Animal lovers just don' t do that.

Dr. Kate continues her house calls, nosing around and sniffing out information from the town gossips and uncovers a lot of suspects. When a gentle employee of her animal hospital is arrested for the murder, she refuses to butt out, although her sleuthing irritates police officer and friend Detective Luke Gianetti.  With some practical advice from her Gramps, a retired fire investigator, now residing in assisted living, she pushes on.

Colorful human characters and interesting animal clients, perhaps borrowed from the author's own experiences as a vet, make it fun to follow the clues Dr. Kate and her friends dig up.

Humor and a heartfelt love of animals combine in this well crafted cozy for animal lovers.

Eileen Brady is a veterinarian living in Scottsdale with six cats and two dogs of her own.

Hair of the Dog by Susan Slater(A Dan Mahoney Mystery) Poisoned Pen, 2015

Reviewed by Amber Polo

Life really heats up for insurance investigator Dan Mahoney and his PI-in-training fiancée when they arrive in Florida to look into the deaths of five valuable racing greyhounds. Of course, all is not what in seems with the fire, a dead body, and a gentle caretaker arrested and charged with arson and murder. As Dan and Eileen settle into temporarily cozy life near the beach, their Rottie Simon joins them, and Dan’s mother adopts a greyhound and prepares to purchase a house with her new boyfriend.

A well done mystery filled with as many surprises and subplots and a twisty racetrack. There’s lively banter and humor as Dan’s mother wants Eileen to investigate her mysterious fiancé just as the plot picks speed up.

Greyhound adoption issues are handled well. providing a lot of information about racing dogs prepared for rehoming in prisons, a greyhound protection organization, and the transport of dogs getting their second time around. I was surprised that some dogs were trained for agility in prison. I’d love to see that.

Note: Hair of the Dog does not contain racing horror stories. Slater even includes a request to donate to a group that transports retired racing greyhounds.

Susan Slater is the author of the Ben Pecos Indian series and the Dan Mahoney Mystery series. A college writing instructor, she now lives west of Taos, New Mexico.

Susan Orlean, Rin Tin Tin, and Libraries

Rin Tin Tin

Those who know me know I'm no fan girl. Celebrities do not send me into a swoon.

Susan Orlean and Amber Polo

This weekend I met Susan Orlean, author of Rin TIn Tin and The Orchid Thief, and I was thrilled. She appeared as part of Yavapai College’s Hassayampa Institute (I love that word) Literary Southwest series in Prescott, Arizona.

Susan Orlean

The Orchid Thief

Besides her book about an iconic dog, there's more. The Orchid Thief was made into the movie Adaptation and Meryl Streep played Susan Orlean. Is that cool! Staff writer for the New Yorker. Contributing editor to both Rolling Stone and Vogue. Wow.

Orlean read from Rin Tin Tin and her work in progress about libraries. That should be a clue. Any writer who writes about dogs and libraries has my attention. She’s an amazing journalist and creative non-fiction author. You know the kind. You read their articles and their books even if you have absolutely no interest in the subject.

And now for the personal part. After I read Rin Tin Tin I heard Susan Orlean was writing about libraries sparked by her interest in the fire that damaged the Los Angeles Public Library in 1986 and destroyed 400,000 volumes – 20% of the collection.

Dogs, libraries, and book-burning. This former librarian and dog breeder was  seriously hooked. I sent her a copy of Released (dog-shifting librarians nose to nose with book-burning werewolves) and a few treats for her dog. And I received a thank you note. I think she and her dog appreciated the biscuits more than the book, but I was thoroughly impressed to receive a reply. And a fan turned into a fan girl.

Now, I’m waiting for her next book.