Revelations of His Names by Terrella Omaña #selfhelp #nonfiction #christian #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

Non-fiction, Christian, Self-help

Date Published: January 4, 2025

 

In Revelations of His Names, Terrella Omaña invites readers to explore the profound significance of God's names throughout Scripture. More than just labels, these names reveal God's character, His promises, and His eternal plan for humanity. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, each name unveils a different aspect of God's nature—His holiness, justice, mercy, and love—offering powerful insights into His relationship with His people.

The ultimate revelation of God's nature is found in the name of Jesus Christ. In Him, all the names of God come together, embodying God's power, love, and redemptive mission. The name of Jesus holds the authority to heal, restore, and transform lives, making it the ultimate source of hope and victory.

This book invites you to deepen your understanding of God's character and His work through the names He revealed in Scripture. It is a journey to rediscover the power of these names and how they can strengthen your faith, enrich your worship, and transform your relationship with God.

 

About the Author

Terrella Omaña is a dynamic and inspiring individual whose life embodies faith, resilience, and ambition. A woman of God, devoted wife, and loving mother, Terrella is deeply committed to her family and her spiritual journey. Born in Fresno and raised in south Sacramento California, she has successfully woven her diverse experiences into a rich tapestry of accomplishments that continue to inspire those around her.

As a proud United States Air Force (USAF) veteran, Terrella’s journey is marked by discipline, determination, and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Her time in the service instilled in her a deep sense of purpose and a desire to lead by example—qualities that resonate throughout her work and personal life.

An accomplished entrepreneur, Terrella has built a thriving career while balancing the demands of motherhood and family life. Her entrepreneurial ventures reflect her passion for empowering others to embrace their potential and create meaningful change in their lives.

As an author, Terrella channels her wisdom and experiences into written works that inspire and uplift. Her books explore themes of faith, perseverance, and personal growth, offering readers practical guidance and heartfelt encouragement. Her unique perspective as a USAF veteran and multifaceted internet personality gives her writing a distinctive voice that resonates with audiences from all walks of life.

Beyond her roles as a wife, mother, and author, Terrella is a well-known public figure and internet personality. Her engaging presence on various platforms has earned her a loyal following, where she shares her insights on faith, family, entrepreneurship, and personal development. Through her candid and authentic storytelling, she has become a beacon of hope and positivity for many.

Terrella’s life is a testament to the power of faith, hard work, and perseverance. Whether she’s writing, mentoring, or sharing her journey online, her mission remains the same: to inspire others to embrace their God-given potential and live purposefully.

When she’s not busy writing or working on her entrepreneurial endeavors, Terrella enjoys spending quality time with her family, exploring her creative passions, and deepening her spiritual journey. Her unwavering faith and heartfelt dedication to helping others make her a true force for good in the world.

Follow Terrella Omaña’s journey and discover her books, where her words come alive with purpose, inspiration, and grace.

 

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Making Peace with Dementia by Ann Olson, OTR/L #nonfiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

Nonfiction

Date Published: July 10, 2025

Publisher: MindStir Media

A compassionate, practical, and empowering guide for dementia caregivers—because you deserve peace too.

Making Peace with Dementia is written for the unsung heroes navigating the challenges of dementia care—family members, friends, and loved ones suddenly thrust into a complex and emotional role. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience as an occupational therapist, senior living consultant, and dementia care coach, Ann Olson offers both heart and expertise in this easy-to-read, transformative guide.

Blending professional insight with real-life stories, Olson shares tried-and-true strategies to help care partners interact more effectively and peacefully with those living with Alzheimer’s, Lewy body, or frontotemporal dementia. With clarity and warmth, she addresses some of the most difficult aspects of caregiving—challenging behaviors, communication struggles, burnout, and grief—while reminding caregivers that they are not alone.

Inside you’ll discover:

● A deeper understanding of what your loved one is experiencing

● Tools to respond to difficult situations with empathy and confidence

● Guidance on setting healthy boundaries and letting go of guilt

● Techniques to reduce tension and create calmer interactions

● Self-care practices to protect your well-being while caregiving

Through empowering language and uplifting wisdom, Olson reminds readers that while dementia may not improve, we can get better at managing it—and ourselves.

Whether you’re just beginning the journey or deep in the throes of caregiving, Making Peace with Dementia is your roadmap to reclaiming hope, balance, and peace.

About the Author

Ann Olson has dedicated over 25 years to working with older adults as an occupational therapist, senior living consultant, and dementia educator. She is passionate about empowering family caregivers to navigate the dementia journey with greater peace, understanding, and effectiveness.

Ann’s work is grounded in real-world experience—not only as a healthcare professional but also as a personal caregiver. After leaving her demanding job to care for her ailing mother and support others on a part-time basis, she began writing Making Peace with Dementia—a heartfelt culmination of her expertise and life lessons.

Her coaching and teaching help families understand the changes they see in their loved ones, implement proven strategies, develop realistic expectations, and recognize what they can and cannot control. Above all, she believes in supporting the primary caregiver—who rarely asks for the role but deserves guidance and grace.

Ann’s writing is deeply personal, shaped by both financial loss and emotional growth. She credits her clients with teaching her how to be more patient, confident, and compassionate. Through Making Peace with Dementia, she hopes to shift the narrative from caregiving as a burden to something that—while undeniably hard—can be meaningful, manageable, and even transformative.

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The Brothers Brown by R.G. Stanford #giveaway #bookreview #biographical #fiction #historical #western #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

Native American Literature, Family Saga Fiction, Western, Biographical Fiction, Western

Date Published: 06-01-2025

You can almost feel the red dust clinging to your skin and catch the faint scent of jasmine in the air. This is Indian Territory at the edge of everything—law and lawlessness, hope and heartbreak, where the lines between right and wrong blur with every sunset.

Told with vivid detail, this is the story of a man caught between loyalty and his past, between a brother’s shadow and the light of his own becoming. A tale of love, betrayal, and the quiet courage it takes to change your fate.

From a stagecoach town in Tennessee to the first railroad towns of the Indian Territory, we delve into the lives of the charismatic and flawed brothers, Matt and Robert. Their sibling dynamic shapes the lives of the entire Brown family, steering them down a road of familial struggles and cultural clashes.

Matt always idolized his oldest brother, Robert – a smooth-talking charmer who taught him at a young age to live hard and win big. Following Robert’s footsteps, Matt is drawn into a life of high-stakes games and deception. Then he meets Milla. Sharp-eyed, brave, and unafraid to speak the truth, Milla is a woman rooted in her Choctaw heritage, carrying both strength and sorrow in equal measure. For the first time, Matt imagines a different future. But the past doesn’t let go easily and buried secrets never stay buried for long, clawing their way back to the surface when you least expect it. Now, Matt must choose between what consumes him and the life he wants to build.

Set against the raw beauty of the Choctaw Nation, this is a powerful story of blood ties and hard choices, of the people we love and the ones we betray. Gritty, tender, and unforgettable—this is where redemption begins.

Review

The Brothers Brown provides a window into the complexities of human interaction and emotion, tensions, relationships, history and so much more.

I found this family and their saga to be interesting and compelling while moving along smoothly.

So real, so rich and detailed, the details, the authenticity, and the clarity are remarkable.

About the Author

Raised on the beaches of South Texas, R.G. Stanford has always been drawn to stories that transcend time. That passion was ignited in 1976 with the discovery of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and deepened with The Feast of All Saints just a few years later. Though historical fiction wasn’t an immediate calling, a personal journey into genealogy changed everything.

With no close relatives nearby, R.G. Stanford turned to online resources in search of extended family. That search became a twenty-year journey through genealogy websites, Federal Census records, the National Archives, and old newspapers. Along the way, R.G. Stanford uncovered incredible stories about her family and the people who once lived in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory.

Compelled to record the truth of her family in the lore, sprinkled with imagination, R.G. Stanford is a history lover, a research buff, and a passionate genealogy enthusiast. She is also a mother, a grandmother, and a teller of stories, now living near Orlando.

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Daemones Ex Machina by Russell Anders #cyberpunk #giveaway #bookreview #fantasy #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

 

Cyberpunk/Urban Fantasy Fiction

Release Date: July 23rd, 2025

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

If you make a deal with the Devil, don’t forget to read the fine print. 

Three operatives find themselves on the run after a corporate sabotage job goes awry. Now, their predatory employer, a heavyweight weapons-tech firm, wants its elite A-team dead at all costs.  Jon is a smooth-talking charmer. Friedrich is a hacker prodigy. And Guion is the ice-cold tactician who keeps them all in line.

Backs against the wall, the men strike separate infernal pacts to stay alive. They vanish into the urban badlands of New York’s Five Hives, vowing to lie low and figure out why they’ve become targets. Meanwhile, Jon suspects there’s an insidious evil possessing his friends, and he wonders if they all got more than they bargained for. 

Amid an escalating war between local gangs and the firm’s private shock troops, the fugitives uncover a conspiracy that threatens to destroy everyone they know and love. But can they stop the destruction before their inner demons seize control?

Review

Good action and personal interaction. It started a little slow with backstory and world-building, but rapidly became more and more intense as the story developed.

I really enjoyed the descriptive writing, fascinating character insights into their motivations, and enough backstory to keep me in the plot line to leave us wanting more.

About the Author

 At the age of four, Russell Anders started telling stories, often interrupting his mother during bedtime reading to ask, “Then what happened?” She always answered, “You tell me,” and his imagination conjured fantastical tales of dragons and dinosaurs.

He gravitated toward a career as a technical writer and writing coach for software companies. He also briefly served as a columnist for Dragon Magazine. One of his favorite hobbies includes tabletop role playing, especially as the game master. And yes, he's as cruel to the characters in his games as he is to the characters in his books; his players love him for it. 

Russel lives with the constant canine companionship of whip-smart but goofy Sigurd, an English Mastiff (the best breed ever).     

Daemones ex Machina is his debut novel.

 

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The Archaic Thesaurus #nonfiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

Rediscover the Poetry of Forgotten Words

Nonfiction

Date Published: July 18, 2025

Publisher: ‎MindStir Media

Step into a realm where language brims with history, elegance, and forgotten magic. The Archaic Thesaurus is a curated treasury of archaic and evocative words, crafted for lovers of language, writers, poets, and seekers of the uncommon. Author Nina Spinello revives the rich textures of English vocabulary with a masterful collection that both enlightens and inspires.

From “abstruse” to “zealous,” each entry is meticulously presented with:

● The word’s pronunciation

● Part of speech

● Concise definition

● A vivid example sentence

● A list of thoughtfully selected synonyms—each with its own illustrative sentence

 

This A-to-Z compendium invites readers to embrace words like anathema, bellicose, laconic, and quixotic—expressions steeped in literary tradition and capable of transforming any piece of writing into something timeless.

Whether you’re an author in search of the perfect word, a language enthusiast craving the eloquence of yesteryear, or a student eager to expand your vocabulary, The Archaic Thesaurus opens the door to a more expressive, poetic, and nuanced way of communicating.

Perfect for:

✔ Writers and poets

✔ Lovers of classic literature

✔ Educators and students

✔ Word nerds and language explorers

Bring history into your vocabulary. Let these powerful words rekindle your imagination and elevate your expression.

📚 Rediscover the art of language—one magnificent word at a time.

 

 

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The Plight of the Pudgy by Tammy Waldoch #health #nutrition #weightloss #humor #memoir #bookreview #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

Health & Fitness Diet & Nutrition / Weight Loss Humorous Memoir

Date Published: 07-29-2025

Publisher: BookBaby

Studies have shown that laughter and music are proven ways to facilitate healing. Author Tammy Waldoch uses this potent secret sauce in her book Plight of the Pudgy: Stories, Inspirations, and Preposterous Parodies for the Slim at Heart. From weight loss drugs, chronic diets, and toxic body shame, the book is an open invitation to connect authentically with someone who deeply understands the plight. Her own pilgrimage to finding self-love and a place to "fit in" includes a near-death car accident, a bipolar diagnosis that turned her life upside down, and a lifelong struggle with poor body image.

Waldoch authentically pours her heart and soul into sharing raw stories and songs filled with deep faith, side-splitting humor, and a resounding message that we are all perfectly made in God's eyes.

Tammy writes this book not only as a testimony of her faith but also to share her private path of redemption and healing.

Among the pages, readers will also enjoy fiction stories designed to encourage laughter and reflection, along with some preposterous (and creative!) parodies that provide a backdrop of humor to lighten the burdens of The Slim at Heart.

Early Review

Heart Felt And Honest - This book will make you laugh and cry. The lament of women who struggle with body image applies to a good majority of women.

Review

This is something completely different in the nonfiction world and I appreciated that.

Tammy Waldoch gives us her true authentic self in her book. She touches on so many different aspects of health, weight loss, aging, while sharing her own faith and experiences along the way.

This was just really well done. I loved the humor and wit. It was a book that touches on difficult subjects for many, but we get so much light heartedness to cut through it. I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be recommending it to friends.

About the Author

Tammy Waldoch is an imaginative author/singer/songwriter/painter with a degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Wisconsin, Lacrosse, emphasizing Aesthetic Education—teaching using the creative arts. She did just that in The Plight of the Pudgy, combining musical parodies with literature to teach others how to overcome obstacles and rise above adversity. She is actively involved with the Writer’s Well at the White Bear Center for the Arts and gathers with other inspiring writers of all ages to explore their creativity. She also consults with the Springboard Center for the Arts in St. Paul, MN for further resources.

She and her husband of 38 years share a dynamic love for better for worse, in sickness and in health, that has endured all things.

She is also a proud parent of two sons and has two beautiful daughters-in-law who share life’s joys and challenges. Her faith is at the heart of everything she does, and this book is a testimony of her Lord and Savior’s incredible loving kindness toward her. Gilda Radner once said, “Life is full of delicious ambiguities.”

Tammy invites everyone to share those ambiguities with her!

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Scars of Sand and Soil by Jean K. Kravitz #bookreview #historical #fiction #giveaway #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

 

Historical Fiction

Date Published: July 24th, 2025

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

 

What’s left of a man’s soul when everything he loves is taken from him?

 

It’s 1864, and Gabriel Cooper couldn’t care less about the civil war raging around him. Framed for crimes he didn’t commit, he’s been sentenced to a Confederate chain gang, where swampland justice rules and alligators prey on the unwary.

So when Colonel Robert Tremont rides into camp offering freedom in exchange for fighting on the front lines, Gabriel jumps at the opportunity. He thrives as a soldier, but the end of the war leaves him adrift.

Gabriel ends up in New Orleans, where he meets Simone Livingston, a fiercely independent woman with hidden scars of her own. Kept on a tight rein by her overbearing father, Simone only wants freedom—and the enigmatic Gabriel.

But Gabriel has unfinished business and a mind for vengeance. Will he be able to create a peaceful life with Simone or will his greed and thirst for retribution keep them trapped in a dangerous web of deceit—a web Gabriel fears can only be untangled with murder.

Review

The story was authentic and full of history. The characters were carefully drawn.

Gabriel's story was touching, and you felt his frustrations and anger and motivations clearly throughout the read.

The pacing was perfect, and the unfolding of his experience in servitude plus his budding relationship with Simone were both well done.

The precipice of this really came at you and threw me for a loop. Kravitz does a great job of melding together multiple genres, leaning on the drama and history and really giving us a little of everything while ultimately just creating a fascinating and captivating read. Is revenge worth losing the good that has come into your life?

About the Author

As the quintessential queen of “what if,” Jean Kravitz channeled her active imagination to pen her debut novel, Scars of Sand and Soil. However, achieving her childhood dream of being a published writer was not a straightforward path.

Jean earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in human development and aging from the University of California, San Francisco. She went into clinical research in pharmaceuticals, but left her career when her children were born. Then, she picked up writing again, honed her craft, published articles in a small newspaper, and passionately immersed herself in historical research.

Jean has many interests, including reading, gardening, needlepoint, and learning new languages. She lives in Southern California and has a husband, two daughters, and two cats, Lenny and Penny.

 

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The Smallest of Miracles by Douglas Carpenter #literary #fiction #rabtbooktours @miracles65720 @RABTBookTours

Literary Fiction

Date Published: March 6, 2025

Publisher: Seacoast Press

One choice. One moment. A ripple that changes everything.

In The Smallest of Miracles, Douglas Carpenter crafts a masterful literary debut that merges gripping storytelling with profound life lessons. The novel follows Ted Carrington, a wealthy, brilliant, and emotionally distant man on the autism spectrum, who returns to the private elementary school that shaped him—for better and worse. He intends to make a large donation, but what begins as a business transaction slowly becomes a reckoning with his past.

As the story transitions between Ted’s present and his childhood, readers meet the deeply flawed, often cruel boy he once was—especially to a vulnerable new classmate named Anna. But life, in its quiet way, begins to turn his world upside down.

What emerges is not only Ted’s transformation, but an invitation to the reader: to reflect, to slow down, and to reconsider how the smallest decisions—the ones we barely notice—can lead to the greatest changes.

This is not just a novel. It’s a call to awareness. A self-improvement guide disguised as a coming-of-age story.

📘 "Just like everything in life, meaning is found in the small details."

📘 "A golfer knows a 2-inch putt counts the same as a 200-yard drive. Life is very similar..."

📘 "Change is the fertilizer of life. It often stinks, but it is necessary for growth."

🔹 Perfect for fans of literary fiction with depth

🔹 A powerful read for young adults and up

🔹 Ideal for classrooms and book clubs seeking discussion-worthy themes

Read it once for the story. Read it again for the insight.

 

About the Author

Douglas Carpenter is not your typical author. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Douglas became the youngest stockbroker in the U.S. at just 17 and currently owns two accounting firms and an asset management company in New York. Despite a thriving career in finance, his true passion lies in storytelling.

His debut novel, The Smallest of Miracles, took ten years to write—a deeply personal and intricately crafted journey of self-discovery and transformation. Drawing on his keen eye for detail and analysis, Douglas poured over every word, shaping a literary fiction novel that functions as both an engaging story and a guide to personal growth.

The book explores how tiny, seemingly insignificant choices shape our lives far more than major events. Readers are invited to slow down, reflect, and discover truths hidden in the smallest details—just as Douglas has done through his writing.

Douglas hopes his novel will find a place in high school curricula and on the bookshelves of thoughtful readers young and old. His message is clear: "The truth is always hidden behind things that are out of place."

Connect with Douglas Carpenter to discover a new perspective on life, character, and the miraculous power of small decisions.

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Under Realm Assassins by Amanda J. Greene #paranormal #romance #bookreview #boxset #series #rabtbooktours @amandajgreene1 @RABTBookTours

 

Box Set 1

Paranormal Romance

Date Published: 07-01-2025

A Bewitching Christmas

It has been seven years since Analette Dyson stopped practicing magic and headed to New York, where she created a new life, complete with a fabulous job, an apartment in Central Park West, and a sexy werewolf fiancé. She never planned on returning to her small home town in Maine, but when she learns her grandmother is ill, she decides to pop over for a visit and what better time than Christmas? Excited for her fiancé to meet her family, they head up a day early.

Worst idea ever!

After doing some last minute Christmas shopping, Analette returns to their hotel to find her fiancé in bed with another woman. Cursing the universe for her never ending bad luck with men and dreading telling her family about her cheating fiancé, she heads to the bar to self medicate.

Not one to celebrate the holidays, vampire and assassin, Cole McRae, has followed a lead to a rustic town in witch territory. But after a few days of research and waiting for his target to show, he begins to suspect he has wasted his time. That is, until he meets a curvaceous blonde with bewitching green eyes at the local bar. One night with the enchanting Analette could make this useless trip well worth his time.

Their passion is undeniable and unbeknownst to them, their fates are intertwined. Magic and romance will strike on Christmas, changing their lives forever.

 

Surrender to the Chase

A year after the tragic death of his close friend and fellow assassin, Ethan Halstead is ready to take up his sniper rifle once more. But his first assignment is nothing he ever expected. Ethan must hunt and retrieve a beautiful, spirited, alluring werewolf.

Knowing no other way to escape an arranged marriage, Fraya flees from her pack. As she contemplates slipping across the border and heading to South America, she is captured by a dangerously seductive vampire who plans on escorting her back to her family. Even as Fraya vows to make Ethan’s mission as difficult as possible, she can’t resist the riotous desire he sparks within her.

But Ethan isn’t the only predator that pursues Fraya. A powerful rival pack’s alpha wants to make her his mate. Will Ethan be able to keep Fraya safe and return her to her pack? Or will he surrender to temptation and claim Fraya as his own?

 

Wicked Passion

James Stonewoll is an Elite Assassin for the Under Realm Syndicate—an expert hunter and merciless killer. As a former pirate, he thrives on danger, the more perilous the mission, the better and he can't resist his newest contract: eliminate a rebel shape-shifting magic thief that stalks the border of the Under Realm kidnapping and murdering innocent Others. But never did the centuries old vampire anticipate playing hero to a mythical temptress with luscious curves, tantalizing lips, and hypnotic eyes.

Captured and held prisoner, Katya Moro was trapped in a seemingly endless loop of unimaginable agony as her magic was slowly being torn from her soul. A gasp away from death, she is rescued by a sinful kiss and awakens in the strong arms of a powerful warrior whose roguish smile, sharp fangs, and intense strength unlock dormant instincts within her, an all-consuming madness that demands complete surrender.

Gazing down at her, James knew he had to kill her. Dark Magic Wielders, like the beautiful female he’d found, were a grave threat to human society and were not permitted to roam the mortal world. But Katya’s smoky voice and sweet kisses stir a fierce hunger inside him. She is unpredictable, uncontrollable and wickedly seductive—his perfect kind of dangerous. To keep her safe, James will protect her from the magic thieves that hunt her and his fellow assassins until he can find a way to return Katya to her home in the Under Realm.

Can Katya’s passion conquer the darkness within his soul?

 

Review

Cole & Analette, Fraya & Ethan, and Katya & James. We get 3 unique stories that are set in the same world. 

Interconnected standalone's are my favorite for a series since I tend to get distracted while reading and really like being able to connect to a separate set of characters in each book while following the same world.

The romance and the adventures were what were fun to read about. I loved how each one was different and unique. We have different tropes to enjoy with each while having the same core genre.

Really enjoyed this series, exciting, suspenseful, romantic and funny.

About the Author

Amanda J. Greene is the author of the captivating Rulers of Darkness and enticing Under Realm Assassins series. Fans of Nalini Singh’s, Gena Showalter, and J.R. Ward will fall in love with Ms. Greene’s dangerously sexy heroes and strong, kick your teeth in heroines.

Within the chaos of life she finds time to write and create detailed worlds with exciting characters for her ravenous readers.

"Amanda's vampires are seriously sexy and I can't get enough!" - Kristina's Books & More

"Fans of Nalini Singh’s Psy/Changeling series, Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld, and J.R. Ward’s BDB are in for a treat..." - VampBard review of Caressed by a Crimson Moon on That's What I'm Talking About

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The Well-Tempered Violinist by Barbara T. Carlton #comingsoon #teaser #excerpt #historical #fiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

Book 1 of The Gift

 

Historical Fiction

Date to be Published: November 5, 2025

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

Marthe Adler dreams of making history as a great violinist. But in 1905 Germany, tradition and deep-seated prejudice against women musicians stand in her way. To make matters worse, her beloved father’s sudden death shatters her family’s comfortable life, pushing them to the edge of poverty.

But the violin Marthe’s father left her is a constant reminder of the profound bond between them, and it gives her the strength to begin healing. When the Köln Conservatory offers her an unexpected scholarship, she seizes her chance to reach for excellence.

Under the rigorous tutelage of Professorin Wolff, and subjected to predatory harassment by a fellow student determined to destroy both her self-worth and her chances of success, Marthe quickly learns she will need more than motivation and talent to rise to the top.

Filled with heart, wit, and music, The Well-Tempered Violinist is an enduring coming-of-age tale about an artist striving for greatness against enormous odds.

Excerpt

FEBRUARY 1949, HEIDELBERG

In the very beginning was the sound, bright and rich, with an edge of darkness.

I knew it before birth, my mother said, for whenever my father played, I became still in her womb, as if I were mesmerized.

In the sitting room of our house in Eberlinstrasse, I became the audience, propped with pillows before I could sit up, listening to my father and his friends play string quartets on Saturday nights—for love, he said, not money, for he was a banker, though as a young man he had studied with the famous Schradieck in Hamburg. Later, he told me I never fussed, never had to be removed, but remained transfixed, no matter how rough the music nor how often they repeated it. So perhaps my mother was right.

***

The second beginning was my fourth birthday, when my baby sister Anni stuck her fist into my birthday cake when no one was looking and my grandparents gave me a music box that played “Papageno’s Magic Bells” from The Magic Flute, which I listened to until everyone but me was sick of it. Best of all, my father gave me my own small violin and began to teach me its mysteries. First, the names of the strings and their personalities: A, sensible and even-tempered; D, cheerful and impetuous; down to G, serious and thoughtful; up to E, nervous and temperamental, with a tendency to squeak. How to tune them, how to find the notes and make them pure instead of scratchy. He turned exercises and drills into games and improvised harmony to my children’s songs, something different every time. Alle Meine Entchen, All My Ducklings. Bruder Jakob, a round. Kleines Mädchen, Little Girl—my favorite, because it was about me.

I practiced every afternoon for my evening lesson. Occasionally, with nerves like caterpillars in my stomach, I played for the applause and praise of my father’s friends. I might have thought all children were as docile as myself, if not for Anni. Anni’s temper tantrums, Anni thundering up and down the stairs, Anni meddling with my toys and often breaking them. I couldn’t imagine where my parents had found her, or why. Someday, I thought—preferably soon—she would run off to become a pirate and leave us in peace.

The pirate would surely come to no good. But I dreamed I would become a famous violinist and lead an exotic and sophisticated life on the concert stages of the world.

***

When I outgrew my first violin, Anni inherited it and my father began to teach her—at least, he tried. Anni never practiced and she hated lessons of all kinds. The experiment was short-lived and a spectacular failure.

I felt horribly smug for weeks.

My father and I shared a secret language, a world full of treasures where Anni couldn’t stick in her fat little fist and grab anything and where my mother didn’t care to go. A bond grew between us as between two fibers of the same tree, pure and deep. . .

***

 

MARCH 1906, KÖLN

Both of these beginnings came before the real one, like the prologue in fiction.

The third beginning, the real one, is now: a cold March morning a month past my eighteenth birthday, before the grand front door of one of the grandest houses in Köln. Herr Dietrich keeps a firm grip on my elbow, probably to keep me from running away. In my other hand, I carry my violin in its case. This house, on Leopoldstrasse in the heart of the Lindenthal district, belongs to Herr Ferdinand Kurtz, president of the Bank of Köln. My father’s bank.

Yes. It begins here.

The violin I carry is my father’s, because he is dead.

 

***

 

About the Author

Retired architect Barbara Thornburgh Carlton is an author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Though not a musician, she remains music-adjacent as a volunteer for the San Diego Opera and the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival in Washington. The mother of two grown children who are remarkably considerate about keeping in touch, she lives in San Diego, California, with her photographer husband, Barry.

The Well-Tempered Violinist, Book 1 of The Gift series, is her first novel.

 

Contact Links

Facebook: Barbara Thornburgh Carlton, Writer

Instagram: @btcarlton_writer

 

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