Monthly Archives: February 2016

Goodreads.com: Giveaways and More

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

Wondering what to read next? Want ideas for books to consider for your book club or for a gift? Like to get a free copy of a new book even before it comes out? Check out GoodReads, the giant website for book lovers.

Today and tomorrow you can sign up for a chance to win both of my new books—Thunder Beneath My Feet (just out) and Show Me the Ashes (out in three weeks). The giveaway of the advance reading copy of Ashes continues until March 12.

Go to http://www. goodreads.com and search by title. That will take you to a brief description of the book. Below that, click on the Enter Giveaway box.

If you’re not familiar with GoodReads, explore the site. Search by book titles, authors, and special-interest lists, such as mystery, history, and Missouri books and authors. Mark books you Want to Read and list favorite books you have read. Follow favorite authors.

If you’ve indicated a special interest, you may receive a notice of a giveaway in that category or by that author. Hundreds of authors and publishers introduce their books by offering a chance to win free copies for a few days or weeks. They hope giveaway winners will write favorable mini reviews or rate the books a four or a rather rare five.

And sometimes you discover great books you’ve never seen mentioned elsewhere.

—Carolyn Mulford

New Novel Portrays New Madrid Earthquakes

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

For immediate release

Thunder Beneath My Feet

By Carolyn Mulford

Portrays 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes

 

 The first earthquake struck about 2:30 a.m. on December 16, 1811. In New Madrid, Missouri Territory, brick houses and chimneys turned into rubble. Log cabins caught fire. Tall trees split up the middle. The Mississippi River reversed its flow. Lakes formed. Many residents feared the end of the world. In coastal cities, church bells rang. In the White House, the motion woke President Madison. That was just the beginning. Quakes and aftershocks persisted for months.

In Thunder Beneath My Feet, a historical novel for tweens, teens, and anyone who enjoys history, award-winning author Carolyn Mulford tells how a courageous teenage girl copes with the ongoing destruction and the diverse frontier community’s reactions to it.

Shy, sensible 15-year-old Betsy Lawton takes charge of tale-telling10-year-old Johnnie and the family farm when their mother rides south to nurse her husband. Four days later, the first of the powerful quakes and the severe aftershocks wreak such destruction that many residents become refugees. Betsy stays on the farm to contend with the unending shocks and shakes, an unknown thief, and disapproving neighbors. She must succeed to save herself, Johnnie, the farm animals, and four secretive strangers—a French-Shawnee youth, a mute slave woman, a poor French tutor, and his elegant Spanish wife.

The author says, “The New Madrid earthquakes have fascinated me since I wrote an account for a reading textbook. Although I grew up in northeast Missouri, I hadn’t known that some of the country’s most powerful earthquakes centered in southeast Missouri. And may come again.”

A former magazine editor and freelance writer, Mulford worked on five continents before making the transition to fiction. The Missouri Center for the Book selected The Feedsack Dress, her novel set in 1949, as the state’s Great Read at the 2009 National Book Festival. She also writes a contemporary mystery series for adults. The Missouri Writers’ Guild gave Show Me the Murder its 2014 Major Work Award and Show Me the Gold its 2015 Best Book Award. The fourth book, Show Me the Ashes, will be released in March. The books feature an ex-spy who returns to her hometown and adapts her tradecraft to solving murders.

To read the first chapters of her books and to download cover photos, go to http://CarolynMulford.com. To request an interview or presentation, contact her at carolynmulford@gmail.com or 573-445-0829. 

Thunder Beneath My Feet, Rocking Horse Publishing, St. Louis, 2016, 188 pp.

$12.95 (paperback), $4.95 (Kindle)

Thunder Beneath My Feet Is Out

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

Sometimes ideas for book evolve for a long time. That’s certainly true of Thunder Beneath My Feet, my newly published historical adventure for tweens and teens and anyone who enjoys history.

The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 have fascinated me for 30 years. That’s when, as a freelancer, I wrote a short description of the quakes for a textbook. Although I’d grown up in northeast Missouri, I hadn’t realized that some of the most powerful and long-lasting earthquakes on the continent had taken place in southeast Missouri. And may come again.

After moving back to Missouri in 2007, I started thinking about the quakes as a setting for a novel. For several months I read books, websites, and articles in my spare time, fascinated by the people living in and passing through the ambitious little Mississippi River port and how they responded to day after day of terror. Finally facts and creativity gave birth to a plot and characters.

I tell the story from the viewpoint of 15-year-old Betsy Lawton, a shy, sensible girl living on a farm near the village of New Madrid, Upper Louisiana Territory. Her mother must ride south to bring home her ailing husband. She leaves Betsy in charge of the farm and her tale-telling 10-year-old brother. Four days later, the first of the powerful quakes hits, downing buildings and trees and demolishing boats on the river. Betsy must contend with the terrifying shocks and shakes, an unknown thief, and frantic community members to save herself, Johnnie, the farm animals, and four strangers with deep secrets.

To read more about the book and the first chapter, go to this website’s Thunder Beneath My Feet page. Better still, ask your local library to order it or buy your own copy.

—Carolyn Mulford