Book Spotlight: Viva Violetta & Verdi by Howard Jay Smith

 

A Love Affair Inspiring the World's Most Unforgettable Operas:

Experience the intense, lifelong love affair between Giuseppe Verdi and Giuseppina Strepponi, the brilliant and seductive soprano who shaped his legacy. As his muse, lover, and wife, Strepponi was the inspiration behind Verdi's most iconic works, including La Traviata and Aida. Her influence was pivotal, as she became the architect of his creative triumphs and the heart of his operatic genius.

Set against the backdrop of Italy's Risorgimento, this sweeping novel intertwines their turbulent relationship with the nation's fierce struggle for independence. Through the heartbreak of three brutal wars, Verdi and Strepponi's passion, betrayal, and artistic ambition come alive, mirroring the era's fiery spirit.

Rich with themes of love, power, food, wine, and unrelenting passion, Viva Violetta & Verdi is an unforgettable exploration of art, resilience, and the enduring bond that transformed both an artist and a nation.

Praise for Violetta & Verdi:

"A stunning, significant book...that is rich, lush and drenched in knowledge. It is nothing less than a gift." - Sheila Weller

"Smith's historic drama embraces universal themes of class and religious persecution, and weaves gorgeous language with an intimate knowledge of Italian food, music, and political hypocrisy that contemporary readers will find irresistible." - ​Jessica Keener

"Viva Violetta & Verdi is a well-researched love letter to Verdi; fans are sure to love." - Leslie Zemeckis

"Perfection. You are right there, inhaling and breathing in the words, the smell, and each piece of music. Bravo. It is both a love song and a love letter to the irrefutable power of Verdi's muse, Violetta." - Amy Ferris

 

 Buy Link:

 Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/bxyr2d

 

 Howard Jay Smith is an award-winning writer from Santa Barbara, California.

VIVA VIOLETTA & VERDI, is his third novel in his series on great composers, including BEETHOVEN IN LOVE; OPUS 139 and MEETING MOZART: FROM THE SECRET DIARIES OF LORENZO DA PONTE.

His other books include OPENING THE DOORS TO HOLLYWOOD (Random House) and JOHN GARDNER: AN INTERVIEW (New London Press). He was recently awarded a Profant Foundation for the Arts Fellowship for Excellence in Writing.

Smith is a former two-time Bread Loaf Scholar and three-time Washington, D.C. Commission for the Arts Fellow, who taught for many years in the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program and has lectured nationally. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, American Heritage Magazine, the Beethoven Journal, Horizon Magazine, Fig Tree Press, the Journal of the Writers Guild of America, the Ojai Quarterly, and numerous trade publications. While an executive at the ABC Television, Embassy TV, and Academy Home Entertainment he worked on numerous film, television, radio and commercial projects.

He serves on the board of directors of the Santa Barbara Symphony and is a member of the American Beethoven Society.

Author Links:

Website: https://www.historiumpress.com/howard-jay-smith

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009914652603

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Howard-Jay-Smith/author/B072FL7Y6P

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14208462.Howard_Jay_Smith

 

 

 

Book Spotlight: The Viola Factor by Sheridan Brown

 

Follow the tour:  https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2024/03/blog-tour-the-viola-factor-by-sheridan-brown.html

The Viola Factor" takes place at a time when the country faced division and growth after the American Civil War. Viola Knapp Ruffner (1812-1903) struggled with what was just and fair, becoming a little-known confidant for a young black scholar from Virginia. But Viola was much more than a teacher; she was a mother, wife, game-changer, and friend. With her mother's dying wish, a young woman alone, she left her New England roots. This is a story of trauma and love in the South while battling for justice and the rightful education of the enslaved and once enslaved. African American leader Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) called her his friend and model for life.

The Viola Factor is in many ways a journey of life done in baby steps, tentatively stumbling, until a galloping stride is achieved. Viola Knapp wears different shoes on different days. Heavy, mud-trekking boots to allow for aggressive steps, and daintier shoes for more rhythmic and assertive ones. She was a diligent daughter, an outspoken protector, and a progressive teacher.

Like many women in her situation, alone at seventeen, Viola must realize her own principles to fulfill her future goals. With every stride, Viola Knapp Ruffner marches around surprises, over potholes, and dodges folly after folly on her journey to be fulfilled. After ambling in one direction, plodding along in another, and wandering to find herself, a sudden halt pushes her forward until a factor of fate places her in the path of a newly freed slave with a desire to read and penchant to lead. After years of post-traumatic stress and mental uncoupling, she finds herself a woman who followed her mother's dying wish to fight for what is fair and just.

  Buy Link:

 Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/b5YERw

Sheridan Brown holds advanced degrees in school leadership and is a certified teacher, principal, and educational leader. The arts have always been a central force in her life, since performing in piano recitals, school band, plays, and singing in choirs her whole life.

Ms. Brown was born in Tennessee and raised in small towns of southwest Virginia. She practiced her profession in Virginia, Massachusetts, and Florida. Upon retirement, she began volunteering, painting, writing, researching, and traveling with her husband, attorney John Crawford. She has one son, Tony Hume. She is GiGi to Aiden and Lucy. She has returned to the Blue Ridge to live and explore.

 Author Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ViolaFactor/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/yrtEyjFaC5A

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sheridan-l-brown-17422a5

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theviolafactor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0B3HMSRBM

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20766921.Sheridan_Brown

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sheridanreels22

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sbrown1919

Forgiving Nero by Mary Ann Bernal awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion

 

FORGIVING NERO by Mary Ann Bernal has been honored with the B.R.A.G.Medallion (Book Readers Appreciation Group). It now joins the very select award-winning, reader-recommended books at indieBRAG.

A Story so Intriguing and Spellbinding

The jewel of the civilized world has fallen. The Senate is weak, her legions are in disarray, and the Empire has fallen into depraved Nero’s hands. Politics and treachery threaten to end Nero’s reign before it begins, forcing him to turn to Traian, who becomes the father he never had, and the one man who never judges him.

When Traian secretly marries the hostage Vena, it sets in motion a collision of values as Traian comes to odds with his former charge. The whirlwind that follows will shake the very foundations of the greatest Empire the world has ever known, and survival is far from guaranteed.

Universal Purchase Link

Amazon Global Link

Smashwords End of Year Sale December 17, 2021 - January 1, 2022 - Exclusive deals on Indie Books

Award-winning author, Mary Ann Bernal, is participating in the Smashwords End of Year Sale

 (December 17, 2021 – January 1, 2022) 

  View Mary Ann's Smashwords profile page  HERE.

 Something for everyone by multi-genre author, Mary Ann Bernal.

The Briton and the Dane series - an action and adventure drama set in Dark Ages England when the Vikings terrorized the civilized world. A historical fiction romance collection featuring Concordia, a coming-of-age escapade, and Timeline, a fantasy time travel love story transcending time.

Planetary Wars Rise of an Empire - a science fiction/fantasy romantic adventure.

Crusader's Path - a historical fiction romance adventure set against the backdrop of the First Crusade.

Forgiving Nero - a Historical Biographical Fiction novel set in Ancient Rome when Emperor Nero ruled the Roman Empire.

Scribbler Tales - a multi-genre collection of short stories whose genres include the paranormal, action and adventure, mystery and thrillers, fantasy, romance, drama, and suspense. A single-author contemporary fiction anthology.

Forgiving Nero by Mary Ann Bernal featured in Reader Views December Book Giveaway!

Gold Medal
The Coffee Pot Book Club Book of the Year
Historical Fiction Book of the Year
The Ancient World

Playing out much like the Greek tragedies Nero enjoyed acting in! -- Reader Views

Reader Views

Happy December! We're celebrating by giving away 40 copies of books by some amazing indie authors! Show your support - enter for a chance to win one of these fabulous titles!

Click HERE to enter.

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Spotlight on Faith L. Justice, author of Dawn Empress: A Novel of Imperial Rome (The Theodosian Women, Book Two)

 

As Rome reels under barbarian assaults, a young girl must step up.

After the Emperor’s unexpected death, ambitious men eye the Eastern Roman throne occupied by seven-year-old Theodosius II. His older sister Pulcheria faces a stark choice: she must find allies and take control of the Eastern court or doom the imperial children to a life of obscurity—or worse. Beloved by the people and respected by the Church, Pulcheria forges her own path to power. Can her piety and steely will protect her brother from military assassins, heretic bishops, scheming eunuchs and—most insidious of all—a beautiful, intelligent bride? Or will she lose all in the trying?

Dawn Empress tells the little-known and remarkable story of Pulcheria Augusta, 5th century Empress of Eastern Rome. Her accomplishments rival those of Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great as she sets the stage for the dawn of the Byzantine Empire. Don’t miss this “gripping tale” (Kirkus Reviews); a “deftly written and impressively entertaining historical novel” (Midwest Book Reviews). Historical Novel Reviews calls Dawn Empress an “outstanding novel…highly recommended” and awarded it the coveted Editor’s Choice.

 

 ¸.•*´¨)✯ ¸.•*¨) ✮ ( ¸.•´✶

Faith L. Justice

Some Fun Facts 

(You may or may not already know!)

My younger sister’s name is Hope, and if there had been another girl, she would be named Charity. Mom always wanted to have three girls. Hope is extremely grateful there were boys born between us. She just happened to marry a man named Justice. I don’t think she thought through the consequences of her naming scheme. Here’s Hope (on the left) and me in our younger activist days. 

I was voted “Most Likely to be the first woman on the moon” by my junior high graduation class. Even then I had my head in the clouds.

I’m active in the feral cat community: conducting and supporting TNR (trap, neuter, return), feeding and sheltering community cats, and fostering cats and kittens until they find forever homes. I am not a crazy cat lady. Here’s Black Jack, one of my feral porch cats. 

I have country girl roots (Whisler, OH population 103) but love living in the big city (Brooklyn, NY population 2.6 million) where I don’t have to drive an hour to the grocery and everything is delivered. I satisfy my green thumb by growing vegetables and flowers in my yard and on my deck.

There’s another Faith Justice out there. Or there used to be. Someone called me (mumble, mumble years ago) when I served as president of the Stamford CT chapter of the National Organization for Women, to ask if I was the same Faith Justice who used to be the president of a NOW chapter in Michigan. Something about the name? 

Buy Links

Print/eBook

 Amazon UK   Amazon US   Amazon CA   Amazon AU   Barnes and Noble

Waterstones   Kobo   Apple Books   Smashwords    Books A Million   Scribd

 Audiobook

Audible   iTunes   Nook Audiobook   Google Play   Kobo Audio   Binge Books

 Chirp   Scribd

Faith L. Justice

Faith L. Justice writes award-winning historical novels, short stories, and articles in Brooklyn, New York where she lives with her family and the requisite gaggle of cats. Her work has appeared in Salon.com, Writer’s Digest, The Copperfield Review, and many more publications. She is Chair of the New York City chapter of the Historical Novel Society, and Associate Editor for Space and Time Magazine. She co-founded a writer’s workshop many more years ago than she likes to admit. For fun, she digs in the dirt—her garden and various archaeological sites.

Connect with Faith 

Website  Twitter    Facebook   LinkedIn   Instagram    Amazon Author Page    Goodreads