Andrew Jackson

I was born for a storm and calm does not suit me --Andrew Jackson

We're hearing a lot about Andrew Jackson these days as the "populist" presidency of Donald Trump rampages through Washington, sending shockwaves across America and the world. If you're curious about who Jackson really was, this is the biography to read. 

Jon Meacham's American Lion presents a dimensional look at the seventh president of the United States as he  deals with multiple adversaries and issues—Indian removal, states’ rights, financial corruption, and his own unruly household.  

Jackson was a two-term president and one of his main goals was keeping the young democracy he inherited from falling apart. It's worth reading American Lion for the backdrop of issues that continue to plague America, especially the dark heritage of slave-holding and Native American genocide.

In It to End It!

Today is "Shine a Light on Slavery" Day. the day is meant to raise awareness about modern-day slavery and human trafficking. You can find more information at Shine a Light's site.

A Meme for Monday

Happy Valentine's Day

Last year, as a Valentine's Day present to myself, I bought a month's worth of stock photograph downloads to use for book covers and blog posts and the like. One of the photographers whose work I fell in love with is Andrejs Pidjass, who calls himself Nejron. You can find his Shutterstock portfolio here. He stages a lot of shots and provides his models with costumes and his work is just great. He works with these two models a lot and I like the pictures so much they've inspired a new series for me. You should check out his work. Or like him on Facebook. Check out his website. Or browse his portfolio on Dreamstime. Or on Stockfresh.  He's really versatile and I guarantee you've seen some of his work on covers. That's his photograph on the cover of my book Bride of the Midnight King,

SFF Book Mega Promotion

Check them out here.

A new Bernie Gunther book coming in April!

I love this series and I love that Kerr is advancing in time with each book in the series. This one sounds particularly riveting as it will be tying the past to the present. Here's the blurb:

From New York Times–bestselling author Philip Kerr, the much-anticipated return of Bernie Gunther, our compromised former Berlin bull and unwilling SS officer. With his cover blown, he is waiting for the next move in the cat-and-mouse game that, even a decade after Germany’s defeat, continues to shadow his life.
 
The French Riviera, 1956: The invitation to dinner was not unexpected, though neither was it welcome. Erich Mielke, deputy head of the East German Stasi, has turned up in Nice, and he’s not on holiday. An old and dangerous adversary, Mielke is calling in a debt. He intends that Bernie go to London and, with the vial of Thallium he now pushes across the table, poison a female agent they both have had dealings with.

But chance intervenes in the form of Friedrich Korsch, an old Kripo comrade now working for Stasi and probably there to make sure Bernie gets the job done. Bernie bolts for the German border. Traveling by night, holed up during the day, Bernie has plenty of down time to recall the last time Korsch and he worked together.

Novels with Soul--Free books in honor of African-American History Month

A multi-genre, multi-author giveaway! Select your books here.