Sibella Giorello is Shining Bright

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Check out this awesome new trailer for Sibella Giorello's upcoming novel The Stars Shine Bright:



Sibella is one of my all time favorite authors, and she proves why again in this novel. I love her attention to detail, character development, and suspense. All told with a deft hand. Poetic at times, heart wrenching at others, this one is another great addition in the Raleigh Harmon mystery series. Can't wait for more!

Favorite novel passage

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On a writing e-mail loop I subscribe to, we were asked to share our favorite book passages. I shared this one. When I first read this passage, it choked me up. Books rarely have that effect on me, so I think it tells of the power of these words:

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When David Harmon married my mother, he adopted me and my sister, Helen. I was five and Helen was eight, and if people haven't experienced adoptive love, there was little use trying to explain it to them. Description wouldn't help them recognize the territory, since most people couldn't comprehend the depths and heights and wide-open wilderness that appeared whenever a heart transcended desire for its own kind.

Adoptive love was not natural; it was not manufactured within our DNA. No evidence of its existence showed up in our blood types or facial features or the quaint familial traits that ran through generations, the genetic tendencies toward duty or distraction or drink. In scientific terms, adoption meant people were unrelated. Period.

But in the aftermath of my father's death, I came to realize, once again, that science never fully explained the world's greatest mysteries. Science was a high calling. It was a noble and wonder-filled endeavor. But science had yet to prove satisfactory answers for our most beautiful unknowns---all the things that transcended understanding, the miracles that pervaded individual lives and stretched back to a majesty spoken into existence, to a sacrifice that continued to resonate within our souls thousands of years later. A sacrifice based on adoption: he chose us, he loved us, then he died for the worst within us."

---from The Rivers Run Dry by Sibella Giorello
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How about you? Do you have any favorite passages?

New from Sibella Giorello, a favorite author

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Back in 2007, an advance copy of a novel hit my doorstep. For my work with TitleTrakk.com I receive a lot of books. Many I will send on to our wonderful team of writers for review. Others I'll hang onto and review myself. In order for me to do that, a book really has to capture my attention. The Stones Cry Out by Sibella Giorello was one of those books. From the first line it captured my interest. But not only did it pull me in, the story delivered to the last page. I had found a new favorite author.

Since that time I've eagerly awaited each one of Sibella's new books. The Rivers Run Dry is a favorite, and she followed that up with The Clouds Roll Away.

Now Sibella's back with another novel, today's featured book, called The Mountains Bow Down. I gotta tell you, folks. When I opened the package from Thomas Nelson and saw that my long wait was over to read another Giorello novel, you should've seen the smile on my face. I think I even muttered something like, "Yes!!". Trust me. I don't normally do that.

Did Mountains live up to my expectations? You bet. Giorello delved deeper into Raleigh Harmon's character than she has in prior books---her struggles, challenges, and vulnerabilities. She was real before, but this novel has added a depth to her, which makes for a fantastic story. The plot was a page-turner too. Bravo, Ms. Giorello.

Here's the official summary:

Everything's going to work out. Time away always makes things better...

That's what FBI Special Agent Raleigh Harmon believes as she boards a cruise to Alaska. A land of mountains and gems and minerals, The Last Frontier is a dream destination for this forensic geologist who's hoping to leave behind a hectic work schedule and an engagement drained of romance.

But when a passenger goes missing and winds up dead, Raleigh's vacation suddenly gets lost at sea. The ship's security chief tries to rule the death a suicide, but Raleigh's forensics background points to a much darker conclusion: Somewhere onboard, a ruthless murderer walks free.

Engulfed by one of her toughest cases yet, Raleigh requests assistance from the FBI and receives her nemesis-perpetual ladies man Special Agent Jack Stephanson. As the cruise ship sails through the Inside Passage, Raleigh has five days to solve a high-profile murder, provide consultation for a movie filming onboard, and figure out her increasingly complicated feelings for Jack-who might not be such a jerk after all.

And that's only her work life. Family offers even more challenges. Joined on the cruise by her mother and aunt, Raleigh watches helplessly as disturbing rifts splinter her family.

Like the scenery that surrounds the cruise ship, Raleigh discovers a situation so steep and so complex that even the mountains might bow down.

More fun news:

The aforementioned The Stones Cry Out unfortunately went out of print recently (even after winning a Christy award!). But it's now back and even better than ever with previously cut scenes and a complete rewrite by Sibella. Purchase it today for your Kindle for only $2.99.


Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Mountains Bow Down with a blog tour, a Cruise prize pack worth over $500 and a Facebook Party! Don't miss a minute of the fun.

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• A $500 gift certificate toward the cruise of their choice from Vacations To Go.
• The entire set of the Raleigh Harmon series.

To enter click one of the icons below. Then tell your friends. And enter soon - the giveaway ends on 4/1! The winner will be announced at Sibella’s Raleigh Harmon Book Club Party on FB April 5th, 2011! Don’t miss the fun – prizes, books and gab!

About the Facebook Party: Join Sibella and fans of the Raleigh Harmon series on April 5th at 5:00 pm PST (6 MST, 7 CST & 8 EST) for a Facebook Book Club Party. Sibella will be giving away some fun prizes, testing your trivia skills and hosting a book chat about the Raleigh Harmon books. Have questions you'd like to chat about - leave them on the Event page.

I Know What I'm Reading Next March!

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I don't think it's a secret I really enjoy Sibella Giorello's novels. She wowed me with her Christy award winning The Stones Cry Out and didn't disappoint in the slightest with its follow-up The Rivers Run Dry (I loved it even more that her first, in fact).

So I was perusing the latest Thomas Nelson catalog, and there it was. The Clouds Roll Away. The next Raleigh Harmon novel coming in Feb/March 2010!

Here's a summary to whet your whistle (italics are mine):

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Raleigh's exemplary service in Seattle opened the door for her disciplinary transfer to be lifted, allowing her to return to her home FBI field office in Richmond, VA. A civil rights case turns out to be much more complex than anyone thought when Raleigh is forced to go undercover in a drug trafficking case (Ooh! I can't wait for this part!)

Things aren't any simpler at home. Raleigh's old friend DeMott wants her to find time for things outside of her FBI work: friendship and maybe something more. Raleigh will have to rely on her sharpest skills--and the faith that is slowly returning to her--to navigate her way through these clouds.
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Since March is a long way off, I suggest you pick up Sibella's previous novels in the mean time. I highly recommend them!

Read my review of The Stones Cry Out.
Read my review of The Rivers Run Dry.
Read my first interview with Sibella.
Read my second interview with Sibella.

Writing Update

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A couple updates:

• The release date for Thicker Than Blood is January 2010!
  
• I should begin the official editing process with Tyndale for Thicker soon.
  
• I am almost finished with my final edit (I think!) of the sequel, tentatively titled Innocent Blood. This novel has not yet been contracted, but we can hope, right? :)
• Still in the beginning stages of my third novel, tentatively titled Flesh & Blood. It's been challenging discovering the story I want to tell, but I'm honing in on it!
• My sister, Tracy Darlington, has done a series of interviews with me over at her new blog. It's in four parts. Start at Part 1 and there are links to the others. She asked fun, and hard!, questions about my writing and Thicker Than Blood!
  
  

In other news, TitleTrakk.com has just posted an interview I did with one of my favorite authors, Sibella Giorello. Click here to read it. Sibella is the author of the Christy Award winning novel The Stones Cry Out, and now its sequel The Rivers Run Dry. She had so many great insights to share, but here's one question and answer to wet your whistle:

Me: How was the process of writing The Rivers Run Dry different from writing your first novel The Stones Cry Out?

Sibella: Picture a Volvo station wagon. Now picture a Maseratti. The first book, like many first novels, was written in safe secrecy. Very few people knew I was writing a novel, and those that did would still love me if I quit. To keep the car analogy going, whenever I felt like a nap, I'd just pull that Volvo over to the side of the road and close my eyes. It was a luxury of time and it made the journey longer, but it felt safe. The second book was like somebody tossed me the keys to a Maseratti, then said I was competing in a road race, beginning right now. Although I was thrilled to get a contract with Thomas Nelson, I was terrified when they said, "And we'd like four books in four years." Pedal to metal, people! I wrote "Rivers" so quickly that when I sat down to work on the second draft of the manuscript, I didn't remember writing some of the scenes. No joke -- it was a literal blur. But now that I've crossed the finish line twice (the third book in the series is finished), I can say that it's possible to write novels fast. Even more importantly, it's possible to write something enjoyable. Read the full interview here.

Also, my latest book review for Deceived by James Scott Bell is online! Click here to read it. Bell has been another of my favorite authors for years. He writes the snappiest dialogue and comes up with such amazing twists in his novels. It's always fun to see what comes out of his keyboard next!

The Rivers Run Dry by Sibella Giorello

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My review of The Rivers Run Dry by Sibella Giorello won't be officially posted on TitleTrakk.com for weeks (and the novel doesn't release until late Feb., early March), but I just had to share my thoughts on this terrific novel with someone.

So, friends, here's an excerpt, and the top secret link to the full review. :)

Sibella Giorello’s first book The Stones Cry Out placed her on our radar. It won a Christy award for 1st novel and introduced us to an author whose storytelling ability and knack for description caused me to call the book “one of 2007's most compelling novels”. Needless to say, Giorello had a lot to live up to in The Rivers Run Dry. Would Raleigh Harmon remain the interesting, three-dimensional character we’d come to love?

Find out what I thought by reading my review.

Four Novels I Can't Wait to Read

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My to-be-read pile can sometimes overwhelm me. And then I take a step back and realize how blessed I am to even have these books! What a wonderful place to be, having so many books you don't know which one to start. That's heaven for a reader.

I am a reader before I'm a writer. I guess that's why I became a writer. I remember one of my favorite things to do as a kid was visit the library. I came home with literally bags of books I planned to read. I never got to them all, but having so many to choose from was part of the joy. Having so much good material right at my fingertips was probably what it was like for some kids in a candy store.

I still love to read. I don't have the same time available for reading like I did as a kid, but you can never stop a reader from reading... even if it's the back of the cereal box!

Four novels I'm particularly excited to read and can't wait until they arrive on my doorstep are as follows.

The Rivers Run Dry
by Sibella Giorello

Sibella wowed me with her first novel The Stones Cry Out, and I can't wait to see what her character Raleigh Harmon gets into this time. Apparently the locale is now the Pacific Northwest rather than Richmond, and I'm intrigued.

Summary:

When Raleigh Harmon, geologist and special agent for the FBI, is suddenly transferred from the Richmond field office to Seattle, she finds herself in strange territory. The Pacific Northwest has a whole different pace than the South does, her new boss seems determined to prove she can't handle the work, and she's desperately trying to keep her mother's sanity from crumbling altogether. But a missing hiker, a ransom note, an underground card game, and a "friend" with deadly intentions all ensure that there's no time for an easy transition. Raleigh will need all her skills and a little help-to keep the missing girl and herself alive.


Deceived
by James Scott Bell

Jim always creates a great page-turner, and this one grabs me right from the get-go. There's probably going to be a ton of twists and turns, like almost every Bell novel. Great stuff.

Summary:

Two bodies in an isolated canyon on the edge of L.A. One with saddlebags filled with diamonds. That's how it begins for Liz Towne, a stunning blonde with a devout husband who has given up a prime job for reasons Liz cannot understand-for "Mac" MacDonald, a Gulf War vet who's done time in prison and is just now finding his way back to normal life-and for Roxanne "Rocky" Towne, Liz's sister-in-law, who suspects things she cannot prove. All three are thrown together after a tragedy in Pack Canyon. After stumbling upon the stolen diamonds, Liz is faced with an escalating set of choices: Truth or lies? Love or money? Saint or sinner? Liz thinks she knows who she is and what she wants, but when the web gets terribly tangled, is her game of deception a clever lie or a deadly trap?


According to Their Deeds
by Paul Robertson

This will be my first Robertson novel, but the rare books in the premise certainly have my interest! Wonder how it will compare to Matt Bronleewe's novels...

Summary:

Charles Beale lives happily in the shadows of Washington, D.C., as a respectable rare-books dealer. Or mostly respectable. He has a streak of the gambler in him and when a devoted client dies-a man deeply connected to the Justice Department-Beale eagerly regains the man's book collection.and soon finds himself with more than he bid on. In one volume, Beale discovers documents incriminating a host of major political figures-blackmail material that might have led to murder. Weighing questions of justice and mercy-and with a bull's-eye on his back-Beale must untangle a complicated knot of deadly lies and dangerous secrets.


The Face
by Angela Hunt

Ms. Hunt's novels are always solid, and we can count on her coming up with a unique premise. This one has my attention! It's just too interesting to pass up. And I truly am a sucker for a great thriller.

Summary:

Born to parents who died shortly after her birth, twenty-year-old genius Sarah Sims has been hidden in a secure CIA facility where she works to help her handlers achieve their goals. Yet her days of anonymity are limited because her aunt has discovered her existence and is determined to lead Sarah out of exile. But before she can leave the only world she's ever known, Sarah needs what most people take for granted . . . a functioning face and the skills to use it. Will she remain in her secluded fortress or summon the courage to follow her heart?

Sibella Giorello (Advice for Novelists, Part 57)

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It's a pleasure to continue this Advice for Novelists series. I've asked editors, authors, agents and publicists their response to the question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

I'm honored to feature today a favorite author of mine, Sibella Giorello. Here's her response:

Ask yourself: "What do I love to do, besides write?"

Then kill it.

Seriously, if you're going to write, sacrifices have to be made. For instance, I really enjoy visiting with friends. But I can't write novels, home school my kids and chat with friends. Although it was torture doing so, I pared down my social time in a serious way. I rarely go to parties, I don't talk on the phone. This means I miss some friends, and bow out of events that sound wonderful, but my writing output has soared.

Another example: A friend is working on his first novel, as yet unpublished. But with a full-time job and a family, something had to give in order to finish the book. He chose to sacrifice what he adores--his workout. Now he parks his car several blocks from work, takes the stairs wherever he goes, and uses the hours saved to write. That sacrifice, as much as his talent, tell me he's on his way to success.

So, ask yourself: What do you love to do, besides write? Then give it up. And start writing.

--Sibella Giorello, Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of The Stones Cry Out (Revell) as well as the forthcoming The Rivers Run Dry (Feb. '09 from Nelson).

Sibella Giorello Interview at TitleTrakk.com

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Recently I interviewed Sibella Giorello for TitleTrakk.com. Nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize, Sibella talked about her journalism roots, why she turned to fiction, how she balances being a homeschooling mom and wife with her writing, and much more. Check it out.

"When I started my book The Stones Cry Out, I knew nothing about the FBI, nothing about forensics, and I am the world's worst scientist."
--Sibella Giorello

Read the full interview here.
Read my review of The Stones Cry Out here.
Read the first chapter of The Stones Cry Out here.

The Stones Cry Out by Sibella Giorello

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My book review of Sibella Giorello's The Stones Cry Out is up at TitleTrakk.com. I was very impressed with this novel, and I encourage you to go out and buy a copy as soon as possible.

My review begins:

Special agent Raleigh Harmon has just been assigned a civil rights case her supervisor wants closed yesterday. A white male police detective and a black man with a shady past died when they fell off a factory roof during a “Parade for the People” rally two days prior. The city of Richmond has become divided by color before the facts are even known. The police stand by their man, the African American community by theirs. And if there were witnesses, they’re not talking. Especially to the FBI. What really happened on that factory roof? Why were the men together in the first place? Is it really an open and shut case? Raleigh isn’t sure. Despite the surmounting odds, she’s determined to dig down to the truth, because to a forensic geologist the stones do indeed cry out.

Nominated twice for a Pulitzer Prize, Sibella Giorello has already proven she’s a gifted non-fiction writer. But with the publication of The Stones Cry Out, Giorello can now add “gifted novelist” to her resume. Her skillful use of language has created a unique novel that smacks of quality. More than once I found myself awed by her vivid word pictures.

To read the rest of the review, click here.