Votes for Vixens up for Book of the Month on TBR Pile

I'd appreciate the votes. Hoping many of you have read it. <3 font="">

My light f/f historical novella about suffragettes in NYC warranted a 5-star rating on TBR Pile and is up for book of the month. See the poll to the right of their website.

What they had to say:
"Freaking fabulous! This time period isn’t used often and that’s such a shame. The author did a stunning job with the details and language. It really made me feel like I jumped back in time. Elizabeth was a very well written character. She was someone I wanted to see succeed in life."

You'll have to visit their site for the entire review.

Thanks for all the support! 

She Flew Bombers by Jeane Slone

This is a good, entertaining read, rich in women's history. The heroine, Violet, starts her story as a young girl going up with barnstormers with her dad. Then, against her mother's wishes, she takes flying lessons and finds love with a fellow barnstormer.


But then WWII breaks out. She goes to join the WASP. The book tells the life of a WASP, the daily life, struggles, types of adventures they faced. It mentions lots of real women, such as Jackie Cochran, the attempts to be officially accepted in the military, etc. Had I not ready 25 WASP historicals already, I would have learned a ton. As it was, nothing was new to me, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Wait, I did learn of Mabel Cody and the White Rose of Stalingrad. Never heard of those ladies before and I was prompted to Google more.

There's a romance...it's very, very  mild, a minor part of the story and comes with some heartbreak. What I liked about this book was it was real life, not skipping through the flowers fluff that is so darned popular nowadays. It contains loss, grief, discrimination, strong women, a mother/daughter relationship filled with strife, and even touches on racism.


It also has some cool pictures. They were a wee hard to see on my Kindle, but I imagine they show up quite well on the fancier models.

There's one problem..it works for and against this type of book. It comes down to what you're in the mood for, I guess.

You could look at this way, as though you are sitting at your grandmother's feet and she's telling you the story of her life...cause that is what is: telling. Lots of telling, no showing. I saw many opportunities to really expand and fix that.

Example: The heroine literally reminisces with a copilot later in the book: "Remember when I was in the outhouse on the base and that damn Texas wind knocked it over and I was caught with my pants down?"

Why the heck wasn't that a real scene? And the locusts? So very much was TOLD, not shown. :( But it could be the way the author intended it: at your grandma's knee being told a story.

Three bikes. I bought this on Amazon.

Strong is Sexy Woman of the Past: Mabel Cody

Ya'll have heard of Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show...but did you know he had a niece? Her name was Mabel and she was a stunt woman! Considering she was hanging off airplanes in 1921, I'd say she was one of the first.

This photo is from Florida State Archives.
She's shaking a pilot's hand. The webpage
contains some great pictures, the only ones
I could find. Please go there.
I cannot take credit for it, but 
this should be shared.

She was a part of Mabel Cody's Flying Circus. One time, she stood in a moving automobile going 70 mph and grabbed a ladder hanging from a passing airplane. The ladder broke and she fell to the sand, sustaining a dislocated shoulder and a broken forearm.  But she got back up and even attended the premiere of the video.

She wing walked, parchuted, and changed planes midair. She was also pretty darn feisty judging by the quotes I dug up. I first came across her name in a history book, but it told me very little so I came online to find out more. There's a good page dedicated to her here and I have taken these quotes from it. 

"Every time I sit down to sew or to write a letter, some timid member of my sex wants to tell me what she thinks about me risking my own neck!

"For heaven's sake! It's my neck, and I guess I'll risk it any time I feel like taking a chance," she told the Times-Union.

And here's a video. How cool is this?

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH: Now accepting historical flash fiction/shorties for March 2013

March is women's history month, and I would like to host numerous historical fiction/romance/women's fiction writers on my blog, Book Babe, in honor of this month.

To make this as uncomplicated as possible (for myself!) I'll just kind of make this like a list.

What I am seeking from authors:

A flash fiction piece or very short story featuring a woman in history or an event in history that had some impact on women/the women's movement/the civil rights movement, or a fictional character dealing with an issue/issues that was common in a time of history that is fascinating to you. Can be 500 to 2k words. Romance is acceptable. Erotic content is not.

This cannot be from a published book or book about to published. We don't want copyright issues. :)

You can provide a photo, real or from stock that you have permission to use. You can even write a scene about an ancestor.

What I will do: 

I would like to post one a day, but that's quite a goal. I will post them spaced out according to however many I get.

I will line edit them before posting, check your grammar, punctuation, spelling.

Your author bio and links will be at the end of the post for readers to find out more about you and your books. This is a great way to garner new readers AND perhaps attempt writing something new for you and shock yourself.

I will also provide a button that you can post on your own blog and link to your story on Book Babe. You may choose from the two buttons shown.

I will have readers vote on their favorite flash fiction piece. The winner gets a book ad in the sidebar of Book Babe for three months.

Feel free to spread the word and forward this on to any authors you know who would be interested. Book Babe has 178 blogger followers, 63 networked blog followers, and gets over a hundred hits a day from Google, Goodreads, Facebook. Last month alone it had over 4,100 hits.

Flash fiction pieces should be sent to tchevrestt(at)yahoo(dot)com no later than February 1st, 2013.

Thank you!