Reluctant to shed her riding trousers and fully submerse herself in her role as a growing woman, Jana Brady joins the Union army in the fight for her country. Hoping for Sweet Glory, she cuts her hair and disguises herself as a young cavalryman, eager to fight the Rebels, aided by Leanne Perham, another girl from town who has donned the Union blues. Disguised as Johnnie and Leander, Jana and Leanne form a close connection with other misfits in their unit, twelve-year-old Charlie, who’s hidden his age to provide for his ma, and Irishman Keeley, who inspires men to abandon their inner conflicts and band together. Jana comes to greatly admire Keeley, who frequently needles Johnnie about the occasional appearance of feminine attributes.
Where to buy: Amazon, Barnes & Noble
About Lisa
Lisa Potocar lives in Upstate New York with her husband and two cuddly keeshonds. Her passion for writing and research stems from her former work in health care administration and as a professor.
When not tracking some morsel of history to shape into a story, she is a tomboy at heart who loves to hike and bike and has traveled the world to do it.
Lisa’s book is published through Tate Publishing, a mainline publishing house dedicated to working with aspiring authors and giving their book its best chance in the marketplace. If you’ve ever thought about publishing a book, you should visit Tate Publishing.
Memberships:
Crested Butte Writers (Membership Chair)
Historical Novel Society
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)
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An interview about Sweet Glory and Lisa on an author friend's blogspot at: http://getlostinastory.blogspot.com/2...
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AUTHOR EVENT: A Book Cover Art’s Impact on Sales
Come Celebrate My Milestone! For having reached 200 “friends” on Goodreads, I’m giving away a signed copy of Sweet Glory (open to the world wide). To be eligible, leave a comment to my blog-challenge. One lucky winner will be randomly drawn from the pool of comments and announced on December 21, 2012. (Note: If you aren’t my “friend” on Goodreads, you will NOT be able to leave a comment there. Feel free to leave one on my website or my other links listed at the end of this blog-challenge).
Ready for some fun? A wee bit of background first……
Author-Friend L.A. Sartor (aka Leslie Ann Sartor) boldly redesigned the cover of her debut novel,Dare to Believe, after it was on the market for only three months. But first she sought guidance from a former marketing executive who has over 3,000,000 advertising words in print around the world. Vince Mooney well understands “A Book Cover Art’s Impact on Sales.” He asserts:
The cover art missions are very similar to the missions an advertising headline must accomplish: (I mention this because millions of dollars have been spent testing direct response headlines and what makes them work.)
1. Get the favorable attention of the best prospects for the product.
2. When possible make the cover art persuasively promise believable benefits.
3. The cover art should entice the reader to read the blurb and hopefully the first line of the story.\
Your Challenge: What do you think of Sweet Glory’s cover based upon the following?
1. What audience is it trying to reach?
2. What immediate thoughts do you have about what the story will involve?
3. Does the cover make you want to explore the story further, such as reading the blurb or the opening lines—why or why not?
Want a really cool visual explanation of the above? Check out L.A.’s November 1, 2012 blog interview of Vince at http://bit.ly/PJPqLV. Then follow it up with her December 18, 2012 blog in which she walks us through the makeover of Dare to Believe’s cover art based upon Vince’s teachings at http://bit.ly/XyMODS. Trust me, it is exciting stuff!
Do you crave more on this subject? Vince blogs regularly at: http://vmres.blogspot.com/.I hope you found my first blog to be “artful and colorful!” (Pardon the pun).
Lisa’s other links for commenting & learning more about her and Sweet Glory:
Sweet Glory Website: http://bit.ly/THj2pw
Lisa on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/Uj5vTZLisa on Amazon: http://amzn.to/11RyJAS
Lisa on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/UjqHZK
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My Thoughts
Speaking with Leanna a girl from town Jana decided she would join Leanna, disguised as young men, and signup with the Union Calvary. Now dressed in Union blues Jana now known as Johnnie and Leanna known as Leander would move out with the rest of the Union soldiers to fight the Rebels. They made friends with a 12 year old Charlie and an Irishman by the name of Keeley. This would be the ultimate adventure for Jana.
After a face to face with Johnnie, Keeley was not convinced that Johnnie was a guy. He kept trying to trip Johnnie up hoping for the soldier to reveal his real self, which was surely a female.
The troop spent so much time training that it had all of them in a sore mood because they wanted to fight the Rebels now. But when the killing started and it was time to recover the injured and dead they were ready for the war to end. All the while the foursome, Johnnie, Leander, Charlie and Keeley were there for each other and became close friends.
I think I went through this book faster than I have read a book in a long time. So I guess you can say I enjoyed the book and that is stating it mildly. The book brought up things about the Civil War to the point I had to keep a box of tissues in my lap. I did not want to take a break or go to bed. I stayed up until I had read the whole book.
The author pointed out how badly women in the medical field other roles in the war were treated by men. But being tough women they usually were able to put the verbal abuser in their place. It angers me that women had so little rights even then. This was the later of the 1800's not that long ago. This was when my great-grandmother lived and I do remember her.
I am hoping there will be another book about Jana and her friends as they build their lives after the war was over.
I highly recommend this book.
I rated this book 5 out of 5.
Disclosure
I received a free copy of this book from Lisa Potocar/Tate Publishing for review. I was in no way compensated for this review. It is my own opinion.
If you found this review helpful vote yes or no here.
Wow, Patricia! I had to have a box of tissues next to me as I read through your review. Without giving too much away to those who haven't read Sweet Glory, I loved how you saw in Jana a lust for adventure that had been ingrained in her from a very young girl. There's nothing wrong with wanting that, but sometimes things don't always turn out to be as glamorous and glorious as we hope them to be. Jana is complex; as much as she's a tomboy, she does have a softer, more feminine side that bursts through every now and then, and the right conditions and circumstances will bring it to full bloom. Jana's journey is all about how she comes to terms with her blossoming womanhood and the ugliness of war--if she lives to get the chance.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, your wish is my command! I'm currently writing the sequel to Sweet Glory, all due to the demands of you and almost every reader thus far of Sweet Glory. And this doesn't give away that Jana lives in Sweet Glory since the sequel could carry on with one of the other secondary characters.
I can't thank you enough for your interest in and appreciation for Sweet Glory--my brain child.
Lisa