Sunday, July 12, 2026

Blog Tour: Marie Conner – A Leading Lady by Elle Mott



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Marie Conner – A Leading Lady
Her Life and Civic Leadership in a Bygone Era


by Elle Mott




Thursdays, July 28th - August 18th, 2026

Publication Date: February 11th, 2026
Publisher: Luminare Press
Pages: 303
Genre: Historical Biographical Fiction / Historical Non-Fiction



Marie was born a girl. That was only her first mistake, according to her father.


    In an era when daughters and wives are not supposed to be concerned with matters outside the home, Marie is determined to prove him wrong. To do this, she must break down barriers placed on women in society, overcome difficulties that befall her, surpass hardships from the Great Depression, and then face an inevitable relocation.


         Marie steps into her community and into the hearts of many people to give her time and help with their needs. She wants nothing in return other than her father's acceptance as a worthy woman and yet, she gains much in return, even if it is not her father's praise. This is Marie’s story—of a rise from her girlhood angsts to become a leading lady—and much more.


This definitive biography is the empowering true story of one trailblazing woman who, in the mid-1900s in small-town America, changed her community and beyond for the better and forevermore.




Praise for Marie Conner – A Leading Lady:

"I enjoyed the fact that this was a personal story, since Marie was the author's great-grandmother. It was also wonderful to read about a time when women were honored for their charitable work and valued for being caring neighbors. In our age of materialism, we often lose sight of just how meaningful it can be to be part of a caring community. I especially appreciated the inclusion of several excerpts from Marie's articles describing the needs of others. Her willingness to serve was astonishing and inspiring. Those who enjoy reading the histories and personal stories of women, who are far too often overlooked, will enjoy Marie's story."
~ Samantha Wilcoxson, award-winning author of Luminous: The Story of a Radium Girl. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

"A deeply powerful memoir detailing the life of Marie Conner and the struggles she encountered as a woman growing up in a male-dominated society. The level of detail in this story is astonishing; I felt as though I could step right into Marie’s shoes, experiencing her triumphs and setbacks alongside her."
~ Kayla Frederick, bestselling author. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Buy Link:



Elle Mott


Elle Mott is a creative nonfiction author who weaves advocacy and strength into her writing, empowering readers to find their purpose.

Marie Conner, A Leading Lady" is her third book. She is also the author of “Out of Chaos: A Memoir” and “People Helping People”. 

Her next book, releasing this fall, will be as a contributing co-author to “When Women Talk, Notes From the Future: What I Would Tell My Younger Self”. Her other publications have been featured in literary journals, news magazines, and anthologies.

She has a background working in libraries, both at the college level and, for more than ten years, at the public library in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. While library work is her livelihood, writing is her passion. 

Elle grew up in Oregon and now makes her home in the suburbs of northern Kentucky with two cats and several pet birds.

Connect with Elle:





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Book Review: Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place by Amy Safford




*Editorial Book Review*


Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place 
by Amy Safford


Publication Date: 20th July 2024
Publisher: Saco River Books
Page Length: 307 pages
Genre: Women's Psychological Fiction

The transformation of Penelope Brigid Goode begins after a near-death experience on her 30th birthday while skiing on a mountain in Maine. She wakes up in recovery and the world around her is more vibrant, vivid, and intense. Strange visions begin to creep up on her like a dream—the spirits of her recently deceased dog and the mother she hardly knew. Ghost owls cast shadows of premonition.

When the number three occurs and reoccurs, Pennie fears for her sanity, especially while she and her uncle survey a graveyard near the former Home for the Feeble-Minded. Here she senses her first vibrations—spirits of the Malaga Island settlement reinterred on these very grounds after a forced exile over a century ago by the State of Maine, a chapter of racism and eugenics in Maine’s history.

Despite warning signs and against her best instincts, she rushes headlong into a relationship with the developer who is excavating near the graves. She begins to realize the signs all around her, listen to her intuition, and awaken to her visions. Through a slow unearthing, Pennie uncovers the past and recognizes the power of her dreams, the haunting history of Malaga Island, and her fight for justice and the truth.





 With the turning of another year comes a transformative birthday for Pennie Goode. Turning thirty brings with it a slew of insecurities and uncertainty. She watches the people around her discover themselves, get married, and settle into their lives, while she still feels lost and without purpose. Then, when an accident on the ski slopes lands her in hospital after a close brush with death, she returns home changed.

She arrives with a newfound awareness of the world around her. Strange dreams plague her sleep, while unusual sensations linger during her waking hours, creating an uneasiness that makes her question everything. Is she losing her mind, or has it awakened to another plane of existence, allowing her to perceive connections and impressions that others cannot?

Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place by Amy Safford blends contemporary fiction with spirituality and historical reflection to explore how the past continues to resonate long after those who lived it have gone. Through Pennie's experiences, the reader is invited to consider whether historical injustices can ever truly be left behind, or whether the consequences of unethical actions continue to shape both people and place across generations.

Pennie is a troubled character. She is surrounded by people who seem to have found their place in life, yet she feels unsettled. She has little money, has yet to fulfil any of her dreams, and begins to wonder whether she has wasted the years already behind her. Reaching thirty is a milestone she is not ready for, and she finds herself facing a quiet personal crisis. She is due to start a new job, one that could open the doors she has been waiting for, but her recent accident has left her questioning everything. Fear clouds her judgement, and she struggles to move forwards. Pennie's introspection is highly relatable, and her uncertainty about the direction of her life creates a character full of hesitation and anxiety. Burdened by growing debts and few achievements to celebrate, she is not where she imagined she would be. The accident becomes a turning point, forcing her to realise that if her life is to change, she must be the one willing to take the leap.

As new sensations begin to take hold, accompanied by vivid dreams and an increasing awareness that something is not quite right, Pennie's plans to begin her new job quickly fall away. Instead, she steps in to help her uncle after he suffers an unexpected heart attack. Accompanying him on property visits and development discussions, Pennie gradually realises that the dreams and impressions she has been experiencing are closely connected to the places she visits and the history they conceal. Her growing sensitivity creates an unsettling atmosphere as disturbing visions, powerful emotions, and moments of inexplicable foreboding become increasingly difficult to ignore. As she uncovers more about the history of the land her uncle hopes to develop, the source of her unease slowly begins to reveal itself.

The history woven throughout this novel, although largely explored through Pennie's investigations rather than unfolding in real time, is clearly the product of meticulous research and has been handled with great care. The inclusion of the Maine School for the Feeble Minded and the history surrounding Malaga Island introduces a disturbing legacy of prejudice, abuse, and long-buried secrets that gradually emerge through Pennie's research and experiences. As she delves deeper into the past, she develops a growing sense of protectiveness towards the people whose lives and choices were stolen from them. Convincing those around her that there are compelling reasons to question the proposed developments proves far more difficult, creating an engaging moral conflict that explores the balance between progress and remembrance.

There are many characters throughout this novel, which can occasionally make it difficult to keep track of names and relationships. While many of them contribute to the wider narrative, several supporting characters receive limited development, making it harder to form a strong connection with anyone beyond Pennie herself. Her uncle, Alfie, is a comforting presence whose warmth and kindness immediately make him an endearing character, while Ward Lewis also leaves a memorable impression. However, the progression from Pennie's initial attraction to Ward to the closeness that develops between them happens rather quickly, making it difficult to fully appreciate both his character and the depth of their relationship. Although many of the characters' stories intertwine, some feel as though they could have been explored in greater depth before the narrative moves on to the next development. As a result, a handful of supporting storylines feel less fully realised than the central narrative, leaving parts of the conclusion feeling slightly abrupt.

Rather than relying on dramatic twists, the novel gradually reveals its secrets through Pennie's growing understanding of both her unusual experiences and the forgotten history surrounding her. Each discovery adds another layer to the mystery, encouraging the reader to piece together the connections between the present and the past. Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place explores a deeply rooted history while raising thoughtful questions about spirituality, memory, ethical responsibility, and the cost of progress. Although the narrative can occasionally feel weighed down by its large cast and multiple storylines, it remains a thought-provoking novel that blends historical fact, philosophical reflection, and subtle supernatural elements into an original and emotionally resonant story.


Review by Ellie Yarde
The Coffee Pot Book Club



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Amy Safford


Amy Safford, MFA, is an award-winning Maine author. Her debut novel, Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place, won three international literary awards: the 2025 Eric Hoffer Spiritual Fiction and First Horizon Book Awards, and the Independent Publishers IPPY Silver Medal for Visionary/New Age Fiction. She taught English composition at the University of New England and was a contributing writer to Coastal Fish of Southern Maine and New Hampshire published by Wells Reserve & Laudholm Trust. Her alma maters are Boston University’s College of Communication and USM's Stonecoast MFA. She is the former executive director of the Maine Psychological Association and lives in Southern Maine. 

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Saturday, July 11, 2026

Blog Tour: One More Hour of Daylight by C.M. Gray



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One More Hour of Daylight


by C.M. Gray




July 27th - 31st, 2026

Publication Date: June, 2026
Publisher: Constance Books
Pages: 417
Genre: Historical Fiction / WWII Thriller


Some debts survive captivity. Some brothers never stop looking.

France, 1943. SOE operative Derrick Sedgley is running for the Spanish border with Lotte Braun: a German woman, an unlikely ally, and a complication he never saw coming.

Behind them, closing fast, is her brother.
Ernst Braun is a Luftwaffe pilot who woke up in a British hospital bed and spent two years deciding who put him there. All he had asked for was one more hour of daylight. Now he wants his sister back. He wants Derrick dead. The SS officer travelling with him has a simpler agenda: he wants them all dead.

The Pyrenees are ahead. The border is possible. Not everyone will reach it.

One More Hour of Daylight is a taut, morally complex WWII thriller about promises made in good faith, debts that survive captivity, and what it costs to bring someone safely home.

For readers of Ken Follett and Robert Harris.

One more hour of daylight. That was all he asked for.

It was never going to be enough.




Praise for One More Hour of Daylight:

"
A beautifully written book with a perfect pace that kept me reading
from start to finish.
"
~ Bookcollector, Amazon 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

"
A confident, carefully crafted novel that handles its subject matter with restraint, earning the weight it carries."
~ Indie Library, Goodreads 🌟🌟🌟🌟
🌟




Buy Link:


This novel is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.


C.M. Gray


C.M. Gray's first book, The Flight of the Griffin, was longlisted in the 2015 Times Chicken House Writing Competition. Shadowland, the first book in the Pendragon Saga, has so far received over 900 five-star reviews on Amazon. These things still genuinely astonish him, and he is deeply grateful for every one of them.

Most of his previous work has been fantasy: either pure fantasy or historical fantasy, the kind of writing where druids turn up uninvited and one of your main characters develops an unsettling affinity with wolves before you have quite decided what sort of book you are writing. Shadowland began with every intention of staying grounded in historical reality, the story of Uther Pendragon. It did not. It has turned out to be a popular book, so he does not complain.

His years travelling through Asia, India, Africa and the Middle East have a habit of finding their way onto the page. He has seen and done some fairly strange things along the way and met some extraordinary people, and writing fantasy has always felt, to him, only a short step from writing fact.

New for 2026

One More Hour of Daylight, marks C.M. Gray's return to writing. It was published in June 2026, marking a departure: pure historical fiction, no druids, no wolves. It follows Derrick Sedgley, a seventeen-year-old from Essex who makes a single moral choice in a field one September morning in 1939 and spends the next four years living with the consequences. From the Essex countryside to occupied France, from the mountains of Burgundy to the Pyrenees, it is a story about promises, betrayal, courage and the cost of doing the right thing too late.

And for those who have been waiting patiently for the Pendragon Saga to continue: the third book, Shadow's Heir, the story of Arthur Pendragon, follows in September 2026. More on that very soon.

C.M. Gray was born in England and grew up in the Essex countryside near the Suffolk border, which is where Derrick Sedgley grows up, too. The flat fields, the big skies and the particular quality of Essex light found their way into the book, whether he intended them to or not.

C.M. Gray is now very happily settled just outside Barcelona with his wonderful wife and partner in life, Adriana.

Connect with C.M.:
Amazon Author Page • Goodreads




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Blog Tour: The Valet's Witness by Rohn Hein



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The Valet’s Witness


by Rohn Hein




July 20th - 24th, 2026

Publication Date: July 1st, 2026
Publisher: Historium Press
Pages: 307
Genre: Historical Fiction


In the summer of 1776, as the Declaration of Independence takes shape within the charged chambers of the Second Continental Congress, two lives unfold in quiet, irrevocable collision-one etched into the official record, the other deliberately erased from it.

Edward Rutledge, the youngest delegate from South Carolina, moves with calculated precision through a world of rhetoric and reputation. Brilliant, ambitious, and deeply entangled in the economic realities of his homeland, he walks a perilous line between liberty and self-preservation. He argues fiercely for independence while working just as diligently to shield the institution of slavery from scrutiny, determined that the new nation will rise without unsettling the foundation upon which his power-and his prosperity-rests.

At his side stands Pompey, his enslaved valet-unseen, unacknowledged, yet ever-present. Moving silently through corridors thick with ambition and contradiction, Pompey becomes a witness to history in its most unguarded moments. He listens where others speak freely, observes where others perform, and remembers what others choose, or need, to forget. To the men shaping a nation, he is invisible; to the truth, he is indispensable.

Among the servants and valets attending the southern delegates, a hidden network begins to take shape-men bound by circumstance yet united by awareness. In kitchens, in narrow stairwells, in the shadowed edges of candlelit rooms, they exchange fragments of overheard debates and whispered concessions. They piece together a parallel record of the nation's birth: one of uneasy compromises, moral evasions, and calculated silences. They hear the arguments over freedom and tyranny; they witness the careful removal of any language that might threaten the institution that binds them.

As Rutledge maneuvers behind closed doors-pressing to strike any condemnation of slavery from the final draft-Pompey gathers something far more fragile and far more dangerous than political victory: memory. Each conversation, each omission, each moment of hesitation becomes part of a story that has no place in the official narrative. It is a story carried not in ink, but in the minds of those denied the power to write it.

Yet history has a way of resurfacing through the voices it tried to silence.

The Valet's Witness is a sweeping, intimate reimagining of America's founding, illuminating the lives that moved just beyond the margins of recorded history. With lyrical depth and moral clarity, it reveals not only how independence was declared, but what-and who-was sacrificed to secure it. In the space between liberty and bondage, between principle and profit, a hidden truth emerges-one that challenges the very meaning of freedom in a nation built on both hope and contradiction.




Praise for The Valet’s Witness:

"
The historical research underpinning the novel is extensive. The atmosphere surrounding the Second Continental Congress is recreated with confidence, and the political negotiations feel carefully grounded in the historical record. Readers familiar with the American Revolution will appreciate the author's evident knowledge of the period, while those approaching it for the first time will find themselves immersed in both the personalities and the events that shaped the emergence of a new nation."
~ Ellie Yarde, Yarde Book Promotions 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

"
As someone who enjoys historical fiction that remains grounded in its period, I appreciated the care that had gone into recreating this pivotal moment in history."
~ Mary Anne Yarde, The Coffee Pot Book Club 🌟🌟🌟🌟


Buy Link:



Rohn Hein


Rohn Hein is a first-time author with fifty years of involvement in non-partisan community activism. Starting as a VISTA volunteer in 1973, he worked for five different non-profit organizations working with welfare recipients, senior citizens, urban housing, racial justice, and environmental efforts in Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York and New Jersey. For the last 40 years Rohn was an investment adviser while volunteering with social justice activities in affordable housing, racial justice, and environmental issues. Rohn has written testimony presented in the Minnesota and New Jersey Legislature and appeared at numerous churches, city council, county, and regional government agencies.

He works with many New Jersey non-profit organizations on racial justice issues, such as The NJ Institute for Social Justice, Salvation and Social Justice, NJ NAACP, Fair Share Housing, and  UU Faith Action. He has worked on landmark affordable housing legislation and on the enactment of a racial justice impact statement on legislation in New Jersey.

Connect with Rohn:
WebsiteInstagramLinkedIn
Historium Press Author Page





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