"Teatime with Mrs. Grammar Person" giveaway!

Check out the "Teatime with Mrs. Grammar Person" giveaway right here:

http://www.editingpenandpublishing.com/fun/

Thanks, Annie!

Spotlight on Jamie Quinn & free book promo! :-)

Check out the spotlight on the Jamie Quinn Mystery Collection on "Princess of the Light"'s  wonderful blog! https://princessofthelight.wordpress.com/

Also, the third Jamie Quinn mystery, "Peril in the Park" is free on Amazon Kindle through March 2nd--happy Friday!

http://www.amazon.com/Peril-Park-Jamie-Quinn-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00KRQ0E1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1456503924&sr=8-1&keywords=peril+in+the+park

The power of a book!

Speaking of the awesomeness of books (we were speaking about that, weren’t we?), my son Josh is a student at UF in Gainesville, FL and really isn’t much of a reader (much to my dismay), but he was required to read a book for his history class which had a profound effect on him. 

The book was the Pulitzer-Prize winning“Devil in the Grove” by Gilbert King which dealt with a horrible racist event in Florida from 1949. Four black men were falsely accused of raping a 17 year old white woman. They didn't even know each other, had alibis and there was no evidence of a rape but within 24 hours, a posse of 1,000 men led by the Sheriff hunted down one of the men and killed him. The others were brutally tortured to make them confess, although two of them refused. In a rigged trial, they were sentenced to death & the 16 year old, Charles Greenlee was sentenced to life in prison. The KKK came in and burned down black homes and businesses; the National Guard came in to control the KKK. Thurgood Marshall came down to represent them, one of his early cases. He lost, but won a retrial after appealing to the Supreme Court. After the retrial was granted, the sheriff transported the 2 prisoners, Shepherd and Irvin, drove down a dirt rode and shot them both, claiming they tried to escape. One of them played dead and lived to tell the story. Nothing ever happened to the sheriff. The 16 year old eventually got out of prison as did the wounded man, Walter Irvin, although he didn’t live long after that.

Josh was very disturbed by this book and one day, while driving back to school, he passed the sign for Groveland. He said it was like a punch in the gut—suddenly, it was a real place with real people who had been terribly mistreated. He called me and said he wanted to help exonerate the men since he knew their families had been trying to do that for decades. He thought about making a documentary (he is a film & TV production major), but decided to start a petition. He contacted the author through e-mail and the author was very nice, but said they had tried a petition before & it wasn’t successful. Then Josh tracked down Charles Greenlee’s daughter Carol in Tennessee and introduced himself and said he wanted to help. She was uncertain at first, but he convinced her. He started a petition on change.org last March and it only garnered 200 signatures. Then Josh contacted Leonard Pitts, a nationally syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald, and convinced him to read the book. After that, Pitts interviewed Josh and Carol by phone and wrote a great article. The petition took off and, since then, there have been a dozen articles in various papers and magazines and Josh and Carol have appeared on radio shows, although they still hadn’t met. Today, the petition has 8,330 signatures and many powerful comments by the signers. https://www.change.org/p/exonerate-the-groveland-four  

Josh has been in regular contact with the author, Gilbert King and many other family members of the Groveland Four have reached out to him. Josh had to go to NY for a job fair and met up with Gilbert King there. They made a plan for Gilbert to come speak at UF for Black History Month by partnering with the Levin School of Law and the history dept. 

Then, a big surprise happened, the mayor of Groveland, Florida announced that he would publicly apologize to the families! After 69 years, this was so huge! They invited the families, as well as Gilbert King and Josh to Groveland last Tuesday and in front of 100 people and lots of press, the mayor gave his heartfelt apology to the families. It was incredible!! http://www.clickorlando.com/news/historic-apology-made-to-groveland-four

Two days, later, Gilbert King spoke at UF about his book and the Jim Crow South and then there was a panel made up of two of the family members, Gilbert King, and Josh. It was so emotional to hear the family speak about what they went through. (And Josh met Carol Greenlee finally!). And then an even bigger surprise came during the question and answer session. A blond man in his 30’s stood up and said that his great-uncle WAS the devil in the grove, his great-uncle was Sheriff Willis McCall and that he had come today to apologize to the families and then he started crying and the whole room gasped and started sniffling and crying, even the moderator. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever been through. My husband and I were so glad we drove up for that. http://www.alligator.org/news/local/article_4063ae96-d6c2-11e5-b06d-bb9b6cb08225.html

The hope for exoneration has grown stronger and the fight goes on, but I thought you would appreciate learning about the power of a book.

Jamie Quinn Collection giveaway thru Feb. 29th :-)

Thanks to Susan at Suko's Notebook for the Spotlight and Jamie Quinn giveaway! Check out this lovely blog and enter for a chance to win. :-)

 http://www.sukosnotebook.net/2016/02/a-cozy-giveaway.html

Join us for Silver's Tea Party on February 14th!

Silver’s Tea Party is on Sunday, 2/14/16 – Mark Your Calendars!

Don’t forget that Silver’s Tea Party is on Sunday, February 14, 2016. Silver has a couple of special guests planned that you are going to really enjoy.

On top of that, we are going to do a book giveaway, our first on Silver Threading!

Barbara Venkataraman will be giving away a copy of her book, Teatime with Mrs. Grammar Person. 

Amazon link:  http://www.amazon.com/Teatime-Grammar-Person-Barbara-Venkataraman-ebook/dp/B00RUQY6B6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455408942&sr=8-1&keywords=teatime+with+mrs.+grammar+person

Here is what she says about her book which contains humorous essays on grammar:

“Fear not, Gentle Writer, Mrs. Grammar Person is here and she has the answers to all of the questions you never thought to ask. As a dedicated and serious grammarian, she will do what it takes to be entertaining and enlightening, but never vulgar or coarse. Heavens, no! Where are her smelling salts? Warm and witty, Mrs. G.P. makes grammar interesting with rhyming, wishful thinking, story-telling and a champagne toast. You are cordially invited to join her for a spot of tea!”

HOW DO YOU ENTER TO WIN THIS FUN BOOK?

First… make a cup of tea and join us on Sunday, February 14th. Make sure to find Silver’s Tea Party post to enter the drawing. Please comment on that post with your e-mail and your personal pet peeve, be it grammar or syntax, so that Mrs. G.P. may soothe your jangled nerves while offering tea and sympathy for your grammar woes. This will be a random drawing by the author herself, so make sure to leave your comments and most hated grammar disasters!  Here is the link:  http://silverthreading.com/

Free E-book through 2/17 on Amazon Kindle. :-)

If you haven't met Jamie Quinn yet, now's your chance! The first book of my Jamie Quinn cozy mystery series, "Death by Didgeridoo", is on free promo on Amazon Kindle through 2/17.  Check it out! :-)

http://www.amazon.com/Death-Didgeridoo-Jamie-Quinn-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00GVJ4WOY/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1455391532&sr=8-9&keywords=barbara+venkataraman

How Mozart Unlocked a Galactic Secret

Without the music of Mozart, Einstein would never have come up with his theory of relativity. Best argument for arts education ever!

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/13/how-mozart-unlocked-a-galactic-secret.html

It could only happen in Florida...

People ask me how I come up with ideas for my books. The answer? I live in Florida! Check out the latest crazy story involving assault with a deadly weapon/dangerous animal at a fast food window.

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/florida-man-arrested-for-reportedly-tossing-gator-into-wendys/67797998

Socrates' Book Reviews & Give-away :-)

A big thank-you to Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews for the wonderful review of Jamie Quinn's latest cozy mystery, "Engaged in Danger". Check out this beautiful blog and, while you're there, register for the giveaway of the first three Jamie Quinn mysteries. :-)

http://socratesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2016/02/review-engaged-in-danger-by-barbara.html

Another great review from The Bibliophilic Book Blog!

Thanks to Star Fisher at The Bibliophilic Book Blog for the wonderful review of my 4th Jamie Quinn Mystery, "Engaged in Danger"! Stop by and check out this lovely blog. :-)


http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/2016/02/book-review-engaged-in-danger-jamie.html