Playing Book Trivia with Michael Dow, Author of the Children's Book NURSE FLORENCE, WHAT ARE EMOTIONS?

 

It’s time to play Book Trivia!  

 

 

Periodically, we scour the Internet for interesting authors who would like to play Book Trivia with us.  By answering our book trivia questions, we get to learn things about the author no one else knows!  So, let’s get ready…let’s play…Book Trivia!

Today our guest author is Michael Dow, author of the children's book, Nurse Florence, What Are Emotions?.

Thank you for playing Book Trivia with us! 

In the movie Castaway, if Tom Hanks unearthed a copy of Grace And The Golden Rule, how would that help Tom find a way off the island?

There is a page where Nurse Florence discusses that thinking about happy memories when you feel down can improve your mood.  The Castaway character kind of did this by looking at his girlfriend’s picture at night many times.  Maybe using mindfulness and maintaining a positive mood would have helped him come up with the idea to create a make-shift raft sooner to escape the island and return to his girlfriend before she married (thinking he was dead).

 
Everyone knows Miley Cyrus is the wild child in the music business.  But she read your book and wants to let you know that it changed her life for the better.  Why did your book give Miley a new lease on life?

The book teaches a person’s brain is responsible for creating their emotional experience.  Miley would learn that they are responsible for how they react and feel, not others.  Learning this can empower someone be their best self and realize their potential.

You are being pulled over for speeding. When the officer asks you for your license and you discover you left it at home, you decide to pull out your book instead. What do you tell the officer?

“Sir, I wrote this book and I’d like to give it to you for your children to read.  The book teaches how are brain creates emotions which your children will love.  If you give me the ticket, then it will be a great enough input to my brain to make me feel sad.  Could you please give me a warning so I can go home happy to my family?”

You have a chance to appear on the hit talent show for authors, American Book Idol, and the mighty judges will determine whether your book will make it to Hollywood and become a big screenplay.  What would impress them more – your book cover, an excerpt or your best review – and why?

The book covers for all the books are standardized and I acknowledge are not absolutely amazing.  I like standardization which I learned in the US Air Force, so I chose to create the series like that.  An excerpt from the book may cause a feeling of “That’s interesting”, but probably not be an effective pitch.  I would instead give them a Booklife review that we have received on some of the books that are outstanding with great grades at the bottom.  I would need to tell them that about how important it is to get a good Booklife review for a small publisher and hope that hooks them.  I would also like to tell them that I have basic plans in my mind for Marvel-style Nurse Florence universe live action series that could help our society evolve to the next level.

A homeless man was caught stealing your book out of a bookstore. When asked why he did it, he opened the book and pointed a passage out. What was that passage?

The Dedication Page.  He might say, “I was impressed that the series is dedicated to the great Florence Nightingale and anything in her honor is worth reading.”

Finally, you just got word that your book has received the 2013 NY Times Bestselling Book Award and you have to attend the ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan.  Anyone who’s anyone will be there and it’s your shot for stardom.  On stage, you must give an acceptance speech.  What would you say and who would you thank?

I would like to thank the Wonderful Creator for giving me the gift of writing.  I would like to thank my wife for her continued and overwhelming support to create the series.  I would like to thank my parents for instilling a strong work ethic which helped produce the passion for the project.  I would like to thank the US Air Force for leadership and teamwork training.  I would like to thank the University of Arizona for its outstanding education and training to be a good nurse.  I would like to thank my kids for reading every book and giving constructive feedback to make them better.

 

Michael Stephen Dow is married to Perla in Arizona and has 3 kids.  Michael was on a path to attend medical school and then the events of September 11, 2001 occurred.  Michael became angry at the terrorists and decided to join the US Air Force.  He went through Officer Training School and then graduated specialized Navigator training to become an Electronic Warfare Officer.  Michael deployed 6 times for the Global War on Terror between 2005 and 2009 with the EC-130H Compass Call mission.  Michael medically retired in 2010 and then became an US Army contractor serving Wounded Warriors and ensuring they received all of their entitled benefits for 8 years.  Michael always had a love for science and the human body so he then used his GI bill to go through nursing school and graduated in August 2020.  Michael now works as a Registered Nurse at an inpatient psychiatric hospital.  Michael’s education is as follows: B.A. in Psychology from Auburn University in 1999, B.S. in Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2001, M.S. in Management from Troy University in 2010, Masters in Health Administration from the University of Phoenix in 2017, and M.S. from the University of Arizona in 2020 through its 15 month accelerated Masters Entry to the Profession of Nursing program.  Michael is the Founder and Manager of Dow Creative Enterprises, LLC.  His books have garnered the Silver Nautilus Book award in 2020 (Nurse Florence, Help I’m Bleeding) and an Award-Winning Finalist in the Religion category for the 2021 International Book Awards (A Prayer to Our Father in the Heavens: Possibly the Greatest Jewish Prayer of All Time).  Michael believes we will need the best of science and religion to successfully navigate ourselves, our civilization, through the future obstacles we will face.  More information can be found at www.DowCreativeEnterprises.com and www.NurseFlorence.org.  Nurse Florence® is a federally registered trademark by Dow Creative Enterprises.  The Nurse Florence® series seeks to promote science and health among children and to help increase the health literacy levels of our society.  With teamwork, inclusion, faith and perseverance, we can bravely face our problems and help each other reach our better selves as well as our best collective good.

Author Links  

Website | Facebook

Sometimes it seems only a nurse can bring technical information down to an understanding that an ordinary person can grasp.  The Nurse Florence® book series provides high quality medical information that even a child can grasp.  By introducing young kids to correct terminology and science concepts at an early age, we can help increase our children’s health literacy level as well as help to prepare them for courses and jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  We need more scientists so I hope that many children will enjoy this book series and consider a job involving science.

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LuLu

 

New Release: Her Dying Kiss by Jennifer Chase #newrelease #crimethriller @jchasenovelist

 

Cold Case Detective Katie Scott must balance her work and private life, while tracking down a sadistic serial killer in the aftermath of her fiancé who went missing without a trace.

Title: Her Dying Kiss

Author: Jennifer Chase

Publication Date: July 17, 2023

Pages: 370

Genre: Crime Thriller

She wakes to the dawn light streaming through the window and rolls over to whisper good morning to her fiancé. But panic floods her veins. His side of the bed is empty and cold. Blood trails towards the open door. All trace of him is gone…

It’s been one month since Detective Katie Scott’s fiancé, Chad, went missing without a trace. Devastated Katie is still working tirelessly day and night to track down the love of her life, barely sleeping and chasing every new lead. But now the case has gone cold.

When the body of beautiful Gina Hartfield is discovered among the pine needles in a clearing on Lookout Ridge, Katie swallows her own pain and knows she must focus on finding Gina’s killer. The young woman was found with a pink velvet blindfold shading the hollows where her eyes had been removed. Katie is certain she is chasing a sadistic individual who will soon take another life…

But the autopsy reveals Gina’s body was washed before being abandoned, leaving no trace of evidence behind. And with no witnesses to Gina’s disappearance, the women of Pine Valley are terrified to go out alone.

Desperately combing the crime scene, when Katie sees a newspaper article about her previous cases pinned to a nearby tree, she is certain Gina’s murder is personal. Then tire tracks found in the forest are matched to a truck seen following Chad in the days leading up to his disappearance. Katie’s blood runs cold.

Is there a link between Chad’s disappearance and Gina’s brutal murder, or is the killer playing a twisted game with Katie? Can she find out the truth before they take another life?

Here’s what critics are saying about Her Dying Kiss!

“I couldn’t put it down… action-packed with excellent plot twists… I had no idea what was coming next… so gripped with many twists and turns.” Goodreads reviewer

“Excellent, nail-biting thriller with a plot that’s had me enthralled from page one… I’ve been gripped through each twist and turn… jaw-dropping and totally unexpected… brilliant.” NetGalley reviewer

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookouture

Book Excerpt  

Chapter One

One Month Later

Tuesday 1130 hours

There was a dead body, which was the focus of the synchronized police search. A deceased woman had been found by the utility company during their routine check and maintenance of the meters along the roadway. The body was efficiently wrapped in a large piece of dark brown burlap that had been rolled several times leaving only her head exposed. If not looking closely you would misinterpret the body dump for some type of discarded rug.

The victim was a brunette woman with long, perfectly combed hair with the strands resting on the burlap. At first, it seemed she was relaxed and had merely gone to sleep when, in fact, there were pink velvet pieces of fabric covering her eyes, as if shading her view of something.

John Blackburn, Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department’s forensic supervisor, kneeled down and carefully lifted one of the pieces of velvet, revealing the dark empty socket the eyeball had once occupied. The eye had been cleanly detached. It gave the body a more macabre appearance than the usual fixed eye stares of the dead.

John’s face was deeply sad and his mouth was turned down as he prepared to take a few more photos to document the scene before the medical examiner’s office took possession.

He carefully circled the body, taking the appropriate photographs—overall, medium range, then close-up—before collecting any evidence he could find. The young woman looked to be resting as the late afternoon sunshine cast down on her face. Her complexion, pale and ashen, appeared to be scrubbed clean, giving her a waxy doll-like exterior. There were no evident signs of makeup, dirt or blood on her face.

The south district area of Pine Valley was known for several warehouses that had been empty now for more than six months after a manufacturing company had vacated to a newer and more modern facility in an adjacent town. The front area to the one where the body had been found was overgrown, the weeds a few feet tall and garbage strewn around from where it had fallen out of an overturned, rusted-out dumpster. The dreary grey building looked more like emergency bunkers from a long time ago than a plant that had recently manufactured automotive parts.

Parked along the cracked driveway leading to the loading docks were several police cruisers, county vehicles and the forensic van. The main area of interest was near one of the loading bays. There were numerous cones and flags around, marking various pieces of evidence for photography documentation. The emergency personnel monitored the area and were conducting grid searches and making sure that no one was in or around the area that wasn’t supposed to be there, in addition to searching for more potential evidence. Everyone moved with precision and unity for the common goal of maintaining the crime scene.

“What do you think, John?” asked Detective McGaven. His towering height made him noticeable from a distance. His badge and gun were attached to his belt. “Is it the same as the other at Lookout Ridge?”

John walked up to the detective and nodded slowly. “We won’t know for sure until the body is unrolled and examined under controlled conditions, and I can run some tests… but, the signature appears to be similar if not the same, with the removed eyes.”

McGaven scratched his head, still observing the latest victim. His thoughts returned to his partner, Detective Katie Scott, and how he wished she were there examining the crime scene. Her perspective, instincts, and experience over the past year and half had been more than exemplary—her methods sometimes bordering on unorthodox, but always getting results. He had left several messages for her in hopes that she would open communications and ultimately return to work. His expression was solemn. It was as if a part of him was missing without her. He wanted to go to her house, but respected her need for privacy at this difficult time.

“Wish Katie was here?” said John watching the detective closely.

McGaven looked at the forensic supervisor and nodded. “How’d you know?”

“I feel it too. It seems strange not having her here.” He gazed around the area as if he expected to see Katie appear.

“Anything new with this scene?”

John shook his head. “Not that I can see right now. But we’ll know more soon.”

McGaven was disappointed, but knew that John would do everything he could to find any evidence. The last thing the detective wanted was for these homicides to go cold. He turned away and saw Detective Hamilton speaking with the utility workers. It wasn’t his optimum partnership, but he respected the detective and would overlook personality differences to make it work. “Thanks, John,” he said as he walked away, moving carefully around the area, looking for possible entrances and exit locations of the killer.

A young blonde woman with short hair was bent over taking a tire impression with a type of dental stone, waiting for it to harden. She looked up when McGaven approached. “Hi, Detective,” she said and smiled.

“How’s it going, Eva?”

“Good. This is my third impression. Two were consistent to each other and this one is different and definitely older. It’s probably not the killer’s, but John said we needed to be thorough.”

McGaven nodded. “I agree. If this crime scene is connected to the other one at Lookout Ridge, then we need the evidence to tie them together.”

“Ten-four,” she said and continued her task.

McGaven saw that Hamilton was speaking with the officers first on the scene so he took the opportunity to check out around the building. Everything was extremely overgrown, looking more as though it had been abandoned for years, not months. The weeds were extremely tall and had folded over due to their height and weight. There was an area where pallets, recyclable materials, and miscellaneous pieces of metal equipment had been stacked in the deserted area.

Still walking carefully, he was trying not to step on something potentially hazardous or possibly evidence-oriented. The further he walked the quieter it became—the voices around the crime scene seemed to settle to a low hum as he studied the back area. The sun was high and beat down on him making perspiration trickle down his back. He kept walking, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. He thought about what Katie would do—he had been with her at many crime scenes and knew she would try to get a sense of the area, to look for places where the killer might have been.

The back of the building looked much like the front except more weather-beaten. The grey paint faded in areas and the windows on the second floor were dirty with some broken out. He observed the inconsistencies of the exterior of the building. Even though there wasn’t any graffiti to deface the area, the elements had caused rough and weathered places resembling an industrial mosaic appearance.

As he perused the area, he noticed a trail where weeds had been trampled, not by animals, but by something bigger. A person. Stopping in his tracks, he systematically scanned the area. There were no other signs indicating disruption to the weeds, so he cautiously moved forward. He spotted some paper or a piece of garbage rolled up tightly and wedged into the crevice of an exterior vent. It could have been easily missed or even dismissed, but something in McGaven’s gut made him take notice. He was going to alert John and Eva in order to have them search and document the area, but his instinct drove him to verify the origins of the paper first after quickly taking a photo of it with his cell phone.

Taking two more steps to meet up with the wall, he retrieved his gloves and slipped them on, and then carefully touched the paper. Leaning in, McGaven noticed that it appeared to be consistent to ordinary computer paper that had something printed on it. It wasn’t weathered and the printing was dark and readable. In fact, the paper appeared to be recent.

McGaven gently unrolled the paper. The condition and edges were as if it had been placed recently – there were no folds or fragile areas. As he continued to unroll it, he saw it was an article most likely printed from the internet. To his shock, the title read: Pine Valley Detectives Solve Three Murders in Coldwater Creek.

McGaven took a step back—his senses were now heightened as he glanced around, surmising that the killer had placed this article for them to find.

Why?

Was it the killer’s calling card? Was he taunting the police?

Was there another article hidden at the previous crime scene at Lookout Ridge they had missed?

The article concerned the last case that he and Katie had worked in a neighboring town. All the details flowed through his mind. It had been tough and dangerous. He carefully replaced the paper where he had found it and hurried to alert John.

About the Author

 

Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and USA Today Best Selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells. In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling.

Author Links  

Website | BookBub | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

Sponsored By:

Playing Book Trivia with Patrick Kelley, Author of GODZILLA: THE MONSTER FIGHT RECORD SERIES

 

It’s time to play Book Trivia!  

 

 

Periodically, we scour the Internet for interesting authors who would like to play Book Trivia with us.  By answering our book trivia questions, we get to learn things about the author no one else knows!  So, let’s get ready…let’s play…Book Trivia!

Today our guest author is Patrick Kelley, author of the nonfiction reference series, Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record.

Thank you for playing Book Trivia with us! 

In the movie Castaway, if Tom Hanks unearthed a copy of Grace And The Golden Rule, how would that help Tom find a way off the island?

It wouldn't, though my book would probably make Tom even more scared and hopeless on the island. If he read the sections about Ebirah, Horror of the Deep and Son of Godzilla, he'd probably freak out over the idea of him trapped on an island that potentially has giant monsters lurking nearby.

Everyone knows Miley Cyrus is the wild child in the music business.  But she read your book and wants to let you know that it changed her life for the better.  Why did your book give Miley a new lease on life?

I imagine she probably read about Godzilla's epic victory dance from the section on Invasion of Astro-Monster and wanted to incorporate it into her routine. This led to her doing a deep dive into the series and leading a more low key existence pursuing her new hobby.

You are being pulled over for speeding. When the officer asks you for your license and you discover you left it at home, you decide to pull out your book instead. What do you tell the officer?

Officer, as part of my sobriety test, I am going to read passages from my book for you. 

That would get me out of trouble, right?

You have a chance to appear on the hit talent show for authors, American Book Idol, and the mighty judges will determine whether your book will make it to Hollywood and become a big screenplay.  What would impress them more – your book cover, an excerpt or your best review – and why?

I think the subject matter would impress them the most. Who else would go to the trouble of developing a win-loss methodology and record for a series of monster movies?

A homeless man was caught stealing your book out of a bookstore. When asked why he did it, he opened the book and pointed a passage out. What was that passage?

"...you owe it to yourself to read this book." (on Page 12). He probably took the quote out of context and decided to walk with the book. I can understand the confusion. 

Finally, you just got word that your book has received the 2013 NY Times Bestselling Book Award and you have to attend the ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manhattan.  Anyone who’s anyone will be there and it’s your shot for stardom.  On stage, you must give an acceptance speech.  What would you say and who would you thank?

I am not a huge fan of public speaking, so I would keep it short and sweet. However, I would definitely make time to thank the important influences that led to the creation of my book. That list includes my lovely wife Jessica, who encouraged me every step of the way; my parents who encouraged this silly hobby of mine that I used to create my own monster, this book; my oldest brother Boomer who introduced me to Godzilla in the first place; and everyone who ever participated in making a Godzilla movie as they created the legacy that inspired me to write the book.

Patrick Kelley was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and is a lifelong monster movie fan. He spent his childhood becoming familiar with the classics like Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, King Kong, the works of Ray Harryhausen, and of course his favorite, Godzilla. His many other hobbies include sports (particularly Football), movies, and television, but when he’s not indulging in those activities, he enjoys spending time with his lovely wife and newborn daughter.

Visit Patrick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickgbook.

Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record is a two-volume series that provides a history of all the monster battles throughout the Godzilla film series. After seven decades and almost forty films, Godzilla has earned the title of King of the Monsters. The Godzilla films have showcased the King’s legendary battles with larger-than-life opponents like the three-headed King Ghidorah, the winged guardian Mothra, his robotic doppelganger Mechagodzilla, and the original giant monster star King Kong. The Monster Fight Record analyzes these titanic battles to determine an informed and accurate win-loss record for Godzilla and all of his monster co-stars. Fans of kaiju and classic science fiction films will enjoy a trip down memory lane while also getting a sports-style analysis of the monster battles, complete with statistics and win percentages for each beast.

Buy Links:

Amazon Book 1 | Amazon Book 2 | Barnes & Noble