If you read my reviews, you may have noticed it the opening paragraph of each one, where I let you all know how I received a copy of the book being reviewed. Often, I received a free copy from Sandra’s Book Club in exchange of an honest review.
So, let me tell you a little about Sandra’s review program, and why, for me, it’s a great way to get reviews for my WordCrafter Press books. You see, you can submit your book and pay a price to get on the review program, or new authors can take advantage of her one time offer of one month on the list for free. Once you’re in the program, you can also request a book from her review list to review yourself, and once it’s posted, you send her the proof and receive a free month on the list. This latter method works great for me because I read and review anyway for the blog, WritingtobeRead. All I do that is special, is I post to Amazon and Goodreads right away, instead of holding them for times when I do batch review posting.
Through Sandra’s Book Club, I’ve received 4- and 5-star reviews for Midnight Garden, Tales From the Hanging Tree, Curses, and The Ones Who Stayed With Me on Amazon and/or Goodreads. If you’re a serious author, you know that reviews add up, and you know how hard it can be to get them. In addition to being on Sandra’s list, I send out 30-60 review requests for every book WordCrafter publishes, and the return is a pittance of reviews. I’m here to tell you that Sandra’s Book Club is much easier, and it brings better results.
I currently have between five and eight WordCrafter Press books on Sandra’s list, and they have resulted in several good reviews, so it pays to keep them listed. I’ve been on Sandra’s list since 2022. Since 2026 brings a release each month, or practically, that makes for a lot of reviewing going on. And right now through the end of May, Sandra’s Book Club is offering a drawing for a year’s subscription and one free review for the person who brings in the most referrals.
I know there are authors and bloggers among my readers who do reviews, and I know this program could be beneficial to you, too. So, if you are like most authors I know, who struggle for reviews, Sandra’s Book Club review program could produce reviews for you, too.
If you think beneficial for you, too, then click on the link below and tell Kaye Lynne Booth of WordCrafter Press sent you. Do it for yourself, and do it for me, and do it for Sandra’s Book Club Readers.
I’m pleased to be able to share this five-star review of The Ones Who Stayed With Me, by Nurse Sammy on GoodReads. I am so honored to have played a part in this book’s creation through WordCrafter Press. Please take a moment to check it out.
I know we already ran the annual sponsor drive on Writing to be Read this year, but we didn’t get even one sponsor. So now, I’m running the sponsor drive again, with a sincere plea for your help, in hopes of better results. The hosting fees will be coming due in June, and there just isn’t enough in the WordCrafter coffers to pay them. Partner and advertise with Writing to be Read. Won’t you please help to keep the great content coming?
I offer sponsorship for this blog site to help support the time and effort required to assure we can continue to bring you great content. Sponsorship money helps cover the costs of the annual hosting fee, (which is coming due soon), and other services required to keep our content going. Right now, the WtbR blog team contributes not only content, but time and effort without any kind of compensation. My ultimate goal is to be able me to compensate the members of the team for the content they contribute, but right now, I’m just hoping to pay the hosting fees on time.
Don’t just click ‘like’ on those blog posts you enjoy so much. You can be a sponsor for as little as $5 for a single segment, or you can sponsor your favorite blog series for a full year, (12 segments), for only $50. See your blog, your website, or your book right advertised right here, on Writing to be Read. When you become a sponsor, your ad, with a direct link to your blog or website appears at the bottom of the Writing to be Read post, and you pick which blog series you’d like to sponsor:
“Writer’s Corner”, with Kaye Lynne Booth
“Everyone is a Critic”, with Kaye Lynne Booth
“WordCrafter News”, with Kaye Lynne Booth
“Poetry Treasures”, with Robbie Cheadle
“In Touch With Nature”, with Robbie Cheadle
“Read and Cook”, with Robbie Cheadle
“Undawntech”, with DL Mullan
“Lindsey’s Writing Practice”, with Lindsey Martin-Bowen
“Mind Fields”, with Arthur Rosch
You can find out more about sponsoring for Writing to be Read by visiting the Writing to be Read Sponsor Page. Sponsorships are first come, first serve, so hurry to be sure you can sponsor the blog series of your choice.
Don’t want to advertise or sponsor, but still love the WtbR content? No problem. You can make a donation in the amount of your choosing, even as little as $1 here: Donate Now
We can’t do it without you, so please dig deep and help us keep all the great content of Writing to be Read coming strong.
We had a great blog tour and I want to thank you all for joining us to support the release of The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder, by Lindsey Martin-Bowen. Now that it’s over, I’ve counted up comments and got out my hat, and now I’m ready to share the names which I pulled out. Here are the names of the three lucky winners:
And the winners are…
(Drumroll please)
Resa
Liz Gaufreau
Teagan Riordan Genevienne
All three of our winners came from the Day 2 stop over at Roberta Writes with host, Robbie Cheadle. Congratulations to all of you. You all should have already heard from me, but if not, please contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com.
Thank you all for joining us for the final stop on the WordCrafter The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder Book Blog Tour, where we’re celebrating the release of this zany rom-com, by Lindsey Martin-Bowen. Today, the author shares a post about “The Dark Horse”, the blue-eyed black stallion which makes multiple appearances in the adventures of divorcee, Charli Erickson.
Tour Schedule
Mon. 5/11 – “Inspirational backgrounds for The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder”
Thurs. 5/14 – “Phase Fourteen – Let Me Know the Way” Reading –Patty’s Worlds
Fri. 5/15 – “About the Dark Horse (the black stallion with blue eyes)” Post – Writing to be Read
The Giveaway
We’re giving away three digital copies of
The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder
In a random giveaway.
Leave a comment to enter.
Opportunity for an entry at every stop.
Short Book Trailer
Check out the short trailer for the book and don’t forget to Like, Share, or Subcribe.
About The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder
Recently divorced Charli Erickson arrives in Boulder, Colorado during the 1970s—a wild time for that city—where she hopes to develop her “rock poet” talent and find the perfect mate. Instead, she links up with the imperfect Ched Lyons, a Boulder native who leads her in a multitude of adventures, including scaling a mountain and a 1,200-mile motorcycle ride to southeastern Utah. While she intermittently envisions a black stallion with blue eyes, who puzzles and enchants her, she also strives to make sense of its appearance.
Through Charli’s snarky humor recounting her tales, readers will enjoy this Rom-Com doubling as a woman’s adventure story and may relate to scenes from the wild, zany era that followed the serious, revolutionary 1960s.
About the Dark Horse(the black stallion with blue eyes)
I didn’t create the elusive—perhaps imaginary Black Stallion until this year. After reading and reviewing numerous “other worldly” short-story collections, I considered interweaving an image within this tale that would serve as one more metaphor. Initially, the title included “Dark Horse” as an allusion to the stereotypical racehorse who appears to be a loser—but then takes first place at the end of the run.
Thus, might the Dark Horse be an image of the Boulder environment in the late 1970s? At that time, the city had grown from the college town hosting many 1960s demonstrations, some violent, wherein radicals damaged stores on The Hill. Yet a decade later, this once “dark” town had grown and progressed into a winning environment. (It continues to do so. Last year (2025), it was voted by a majority as the most desirable location to live in the U.S.)
Further, the novel’s characters gather regularly at The Horse, a bar that’s more a three-story entertainment center than the standard western bar. The Horse is especially Ched’s hangout. Because Charli leaves the small city before Ched does, he could be the Dark Horse waiting in Boulder.
Then, the fantasy (or is it?) of the Black, blue-eyed Stallion adds another level of meaning—Charli’s vision of a world beyond our material reality. It’s significant, too, that Ched, like many persons, doesn’t believe blue-eyed stallions exit. O but they do—albeit rarely. And considering that Charli sees herself as a loser of a wife at the novel's onset—then later in her relationship with Ched, might she be the Dark Horse who wins in the end?
About Author Lindsey Martin-Bowen
On Halloween 2023, redbat books released Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s 7th poetry collection, CASHING CHECKS with Jim Morrison. Her 4 th collection, Where Water Meets the Rock, was nominated for a Pulitzer; her 3rd, CROSSING KANSAS with Jim Morrison was a finalist in the QuillsEdge Press 2015-2016 Contest. In 2017, it won the Kansas Writers Assn award, “Looks Like a Million.” Writer’s Digest gave her “Vegetable Linguistics” an Honorable Mention in its 85th Annual (2017) Contest. Her Inside Virgil’s Garage (Chatter House Press 2013) was a runner-up in the 2015 Nelson Poetry Book Award. McClatchy Newspapers named her Standing on the Edge of the World (Woodley Press/Washburn University) was one of the Ten Top Poetry Books of 2008. It was nominated for a Pen Award.
That wraps up today’s stop and the WordCrafter The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder Book Blog Tour. You can follow the tour schedule above and leave comments at each stop for additional chances to win in the giveaway. The winners will be posted in a separate post on Sunday, so watch for it to see if you are one of three lucky winners of a digital copy of this wild women’s adventure.
It’s Day 4 of the WordCrafter “The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder” Book Blog Tour, and we’re over at Patty’s Worlds, where author Lindsey Martin-Bowen shares an excerpt reading from the book. Join us in sending off this fantastic new RomCom Adventure and get in on the giveaway for a free digital copy.
It’s Day 3 of the WordCrafter The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder Book Blog Tour. Today, we’re over at Carla Loves to Read, where author, Lindsey Martin-Bowen shares a guest post about the main character, Charlie Erickson, and Carla shares a lovely review of the book. Join us in sending this new rom-com women’s adventure off and get in on the giveaway, for one of three free digital copies of the book.
Join us over at Roberta Writes for Day 2 of The WordCrafter The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder Book Blog Tour, where we have a reading by author Lindsey Martin-Bowen. It’s release day! Help us celebrate and send this zany new rom-com women’s adventure off right.
Welcome! Today, you can find us celebrating on three different sites: Poetry by Mich, Hotel by Masticadores, and Masticadores Phillipines, where our host Michelle Ayon Navajas has done a lovely job of setting up a stop to introduce us to Lindsey Martin-Bowen, the author of The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder, as she shares her inspiration for the story. (The link below goes to Poetry by Mich.) Join us in learning about this wild and zany woman’s adventure rom-com story from WordCrafter Press, and help us to send it off right. Get your comments in for a chance to win a free digital copy in our giveaway.
We’ve all wished we couldn’t feel pain at one time or another, most likely, when we’re in a situation that makes us scream with the pain. But that old saying, ‘Be careful what you wish for’ applies here. Just ask Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid), who has lived a life of caution due to a physical condition which sort circuits his pain sensors and makes him a danger to himself at times. But when the new girl in his dreary, humdrum life as a bank manager, is taken hostage in a bank heist, Nathan uses his affliction to turn himself into a superhero, as he singlehandedly chases down the bank robbers and dispatches them one by one. To do so, Nathan must go through some very painful stuff, and although we know he can’t feel it, the scenes are so visceral, that we almost feel it for him, as he turns his fists into lethal weapons by grinding them into crushed glass, or shoves his hand into a vat of hot oil to retrieve a gun.
What an interesting premise. What would you do if you couldn’t feel pain? At first, you might think you’d do whatever you wanted with no pain to stop you. The love interest in this movie, Sherry (Amber Midthunder), states it well, forshadowing what’s to come, when she says, “Wow! You’re a superhero.” And, while battling the bad guys, Nathan seems to be unstoppable. But there’s a dark side to the absence of your body’s defense mechanisms, because pain is there for a reason. He doesn’t feel the pain and so he just keeps going, but the question Nathan must ask himself is can he find the girl and save her before he does so much damage to his body that it shuts down completely? How much abuse can one man take, and survive?
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Read and Cook” with Robbie Cheadle is sponsored by The Women in the West Adventure Series and WordCrafter Press.
