The Pearlsong Letter: The Giving Season

December 2009

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December 17, 2009

Rubenesque romance The Giving Season now available in Mobipocket & PDF ebook format

This holiday season, give yourself the gift of The Giving Season by Rebecca Brock, now available in Mobipocket and Adobe PDF format for $5.95.

The Mobipocket version is available now at Mobipocket.com (click here for its listing). The PDF version can be purchased now at the Pearlsong Press website (click here for its listing).

Look for the Mobipocket version soon at other ebook retailers online and for Amazon.com's Kindle. The ebook should also be available soon at the Barnes and Noble ebook store.

About The Giving Season:

When Jessy Monroe is stranded at a Minnesota bus stop during a blizzard, the last thing she expects is the kindness of a stranger. When Michael Forrester invites Jessy to share the holidays with his family, the last thing he expects is to fall in love.

Jessy, used to being alone and lonely, treasures the gift of Michael and his family. But the specter of his gorgeous ex-wife and her own inner demons threaten to take away everything she holds dear. To have the life she's always dreamed of, Jessy must fight her insecurity and learn how to let Michael -- and his family -- love her just as she is.

The Giving Season is also available in original trade paperback for $18.95.

December 17, 2009 in Ebooks, Rebecca Brock, The Giving Season | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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November 12, 2009

Conversation with The Giving Season author Rebecca Brock

Click here to listen to and/or download the 50-minute mp3 recording of today's Pearlsong Conversation with Rebecca Brock, author of the newly released rubenesque romance The Giving Season -- and lover of all things zombie.

Yes, you read that right. In this chat with publisher Peggy Elam, Ph.D., Rebecca (Becky) Brock shares how and why she writes both horror and romance -- in particular, romance featuring women society might deem "overweight."

She and Peggy also have fun discussing the current literary trend of mashing up classics with horror -- Pride & Prejudice and Zombies, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn & Zombie Jim, etc.. Thank goodness Pat Ballard was also on the call to remind everyone that The Giving Season will be enjoyed by people who have no interest in zombies -- like her.

For more information on the Pearlsong Conversation series of free teleconference call chats with Pearlsong authors, click here.

November 12, 2009 in Audio, Author interviews, Pat Ballard, Pearlsong Conversations, Peggy Elam, Ph.D., Rebecca Brock, The Giving Season, Writing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Rebecca Brock to appear at three West Virginia libraries next week

The author of The Giving Season, the rubenesque romance just released by Pearlsong Press, will sell & sign her book at three libraries in West Virginia next week.

Rebecca Brock will be at the Buffalo Creek Memorial Library in Man, WV at 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16, 2009; at the Logan Area Public Library in Logan, WV at noon Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009; and at the Chapmanville Public Library in Chapmanville, WV at noon Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009.

[NOTE: The Logan Area and Chapmanville library appearances were originally given as 10 a.m., but have been changed to noon per a revised schedule.]

November 12, 2009 in Author appearances, Libraries, Presentations, Signings & Appearances, Rebecca Brock, The Giving Season | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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November 03, 2009

West Virginia writer slays inner demons in rubenesque romance The Giving Season

Librarian by day, horror writer by night -- author surprises with sweet first novel

Rebecca Brock loves all things zombie, tentacled creatures and horror. But the author of short stories in the zombie-fiction anthologies The Best of All Flesh and History Is Dead has cast her first novel as a sweet holiday-themed love story with nary a monster in sight -- unless you count the plump heroine's inner demons.

"Romance novels and zombie stories. I am a complicated woman," laughs Brock, director of the Chapmanville, WV public library.

In The Giving Season, just released by Pearlsong Press as an original trade paperback, it is Jessy Monroe's self esteem issues -- not the undead -- that jeopardize her chances of achieving happily ever after.

Stranded at a Minnesota bus stop during a blizzard, Jessy cautiously accepts Michael Forrester's invitation to spend the holidays with his family. Her insecurity flares when Michael's ex-wife appears -- alive and gorgeous, not re-animated and shambling, thank you very much.

Will Jessy be able to learn how to let Michael -- and his family -- love her just as she is?

It's a romance novel. What do you think?

Brock's first novel has earned praise from other authors of rubenesque romances.

"Ms. Brock handles the heroine's self esteem issues regarding her weight with sensitivity, and yet with a realism with which many readers will be able to identify, says Judy Bagshaw, author of At Long Last, Love, Love By the Pound, Big Fat Lies and other romantic fiction with full-figured heroines.

"The Giving Season will grab you from the very first page," says Pat Ballard, author of Dangerous Curves Ahead, Nobody's Perfect , five other rubenesque romance novels and two inspirational nonfiction books.

Don't worry, though. No brains are eaten in this novel.

The Giving Season is available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and other online retailers, as well as from your favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore. (Ask for it -- they'll special-order it for you if they don't have it in stock.) It can also be purchased directly from Pearlsong Press at http://www.pearlsong.com/thegivingseason.htm.

And if you're still wondering how and why a zombie loving horror writer came to write a romance novel, join publisher Peggy Elam, Ph.D. next Thursday, November 12 as she chats with Brock in an hour-long free teleconference call, one of the Pearlsong Conversation series. Get more info here, or get call details by emailing pearlsongconversations @ pearlsong.com.

Update 12/4/2009: The date of the Pearlsong Conversation with Rebecca Brock has been changed to Thursday, November 12, 2009 (still at noon Eastern/11 a.m. Central) due to a scheduling conflict. The call-in number and access code remain the same.

November 03, 2009 in Libraries, New releases, Pearlsong Conversations, Peggy Elam, Ph.D., Press releases, Rebecca Brock, Romance, The Giving Season, Writing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Pearlsong Press books

Rebecca Brock: The Giving Season
To have the life she's always dreamed of, Jessy must fight her insecurity and learn how to let Michael -- and his family -- love her just as she is.
Rebecca Fox & William Sherman: Measure By Measure
A robust, comic romance fleshing out the truth about soap opera: It's not just for the rich and slender. Taken from the online cyber-serial, it's a Tales of the City for the fat and fabulous.
Kathy Barron, Anne S. Kaplan, Corinna Makris, Lesleigh J. Owen & Frannie Zellman: Fat Poets Speak: Voices of the Fat Poets' Society
Smart, sassy, sensual and soulful -- five fat women share the poetry and process of fat embodiment. The Fat Poets' Society was born during a poetry workshop at the 2006 annual NAAFA convention. The poets are donating their royalties to NAAFA.
Frannie Zellman: FatLand
In the near future the Pro-Health Laws of the United States of America have become so oppressive that people seeking freedom over their bodies have established a new country. In FatLand, life is good and scales are forbidden. Free from the hatred and discrimination of the Other Side, FatLanders have built happy, productive lives. But not everyone is flourishing.
Pat Ballard: 10 Steps to Loving Your Body (No Matter What Size You Are)
The Queen of Rubenesque Romances shares the steps she created -- and used -- to heal the damage of years of dieting. Join her in celebrating size diversity, self esteem, positive body image, and health at every size.
Charlie Lovett: The Program
A new weight loss clinic in New York City has an offer for you -- given them $5,000 and they'll make you as thin as a supermodel. You can eat whatever you want and never gain an ounce. Tempted? Fledgling journalist Karen Sumner would be -- if only she had $5,000. When Karen finally walks through the blue and gold doors of The Program, however, she's on the trail of the hottest story of her career. If she and her friends are right, The Program is doing something even worse than creating an army of unnaturally thin women. Library Journal calls The Program "a lively first novel. Highly recommended."
Linda C Wisniewski: Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish Heritage
Even before she was diagnosed with scoliosis at 13, Linda Wisniewski felt off kilter. Born to a cruel father in the insulated Polish Catholic community of Amsterdam, New York, she learned martyrdom as a way of life. Off Kilter shows her learning to stretch her Self as well as her spine as she comes to terms with her mentally deteriorating, widowed mother and her culture. Only by accepting her physical deformity, her emotionally unavailable mother, and her Polish American heritage does she finally find balance and a life that fits. Maureen Murdock, author of Unreliable Truth: On Memoir & Memory, calls Off Kilter "a courageous, insightful book, particularly relevant for anyone who grew up feeling physically 'different.'"
Pat, Ballard: The Best Man
Sparks fly the night Lana Clarke meets to plan her sister's wedding -- and not just because curvaceous Lana announces she's stopped dieting and doesn't care if she's fat as maid of honor. The strong-willed sister of the bride attracts the attention of the groom's devastatingly handsome best man, Anthony Angelino. But when the sparks become flames, Lana's in trouble. Tony's first wife died mysteriously. Will Lana be next?
Judy Bagshaw: At Long Last, Love
Big beautiful --and in some cases slightly more mature -- heroines grace the pages of this collection of romantic short stories by Judy Bagshaw.
Jack Adler: Splendid Seniors
An inspiring ensemble of 52 people whose accomplishments after age 65 remind us that creativity, passion & influence can not only flower in later years, but bear delicious fruit.
Mary Saracino: The Singing of Swans
"The Singing of Swans is a remarkable narrative calling--even compelling--us to connect with our own ancestral roots, to seek our own inner wisdom, and to reclaim our own inner voices!" --Margaret Starbird, author of The Woman With the Alabaster Jar & Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile
Ellen Frankel: Beyond Measure: A Memoir About Short Stature and Inner Growth
"If you have ever measured your height or your weight and felt good or bad about yourself as a result, you need this book. In its pages, Ellen Frankel makes an important contribution to human liberation by telling the most fabulous story that can be told, the story of a person coming fully into her own. This book is thought-provoking, heart-rending, and a genuine solace for people of all sizes." --Marilyn Wann, author of FAT!SO?
Pat Ballard: Abigail's Revenge
Injustice, romance and suspense smolder in a small Southern town. Romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances, Pat Ballard.
Pattie Thomas, Ph.D.: Taking Up Space
"Thomas's incisive blend of sociological inquiry and personal narrative amounts to a provocative treatise on fat oppression in our culture. Taking Up Space is a kind of roadmap through the minefield of the 'war on obesity,' and it offers protection to the reader ready to fight for cultural change surrounding the meaning of fatness." --Kathleen LeBesco, Ph.D., author of Revotling Bodies: The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity.
Anne Richardson Williams: Unconventional Means: The Dream Down Under
Shattered by family tragedy in the early 1960s, an upper-middle-class Southern teenager finds solace in art and literature. Decades later she is called to the continent whose literature once comforted her, and to a magical connection with an Aboriginal woman transcending race and half a world.
Pat Ballard: A Worthy Heir
When Pam Spencer sees the newspaper ad seeking "a worthy heir" to Fiona Bainbridge's millions, she jumps at the chance to get her brother the medical care he needs after a job-related accident. But Reese Bainbridge, Fiona's handsome grandson--and jilted heir--rushes home in anger when he hears his grandmother has moved Pam and her brother into the family mansion. Sparks fly--and Pam is up to the challenge.
Pat Ballard: His Brother's Child
One party, one silver-tongued, double-talking stranger intent on winning a bet, and Faith Carr ends up betrayed, alone, and pregnant. When Edward Brenner shows up on her doorstep intending to right his brother's wrongs, she's scared and vulnerable. But she agrees to marry this stranger to give the baby a father, although keeping him at a distance. She doesn't realize that Edward fell in love with her the moment he saw her. Will her battered self-esteem allow her to see the truth--and her own beauty?
Pat Ballard: Wanted: One Groom
Wealthy Hanna Rockwell will lose her home and her inheritance unless she marries by her 30th birthday. She's stunned when Matt Corbett, the faded rock start she worshipped in her teens, accepts her brother's offer to bail him out of financial trouble if he'll marry her. Her teenaged fantasies come to life--bringing a few surprises with them.
Pat Ballard: Nobody's Perfect
Nella Covington can't believe she's agreed to marry arrogant Samuel du Cannon, even if it IS only a marriage of convenience. He needs a mother for his young son, and she needs to keep her childhood home. If Sam's work keeps him on the road enough, she won't have to deal with him much. Sam's never been attracted to plus-size women, so they won't be tempted to have a real relationship. At least, that's what they keep telling themselves--
Pat Ballard: Dangerous Curves Ahead: Short Stories
Ten romantic tales pack suspense and sizzle into this collection of short stories featuring amply curved women.