January Book Sale: ‘The Stolen Children of War’ is in Amazon Prime Reading by Jina Bacarr
January 11, 2026 by Jina Bacarr in category circus, Jina’s Book Chat tagged as Amazon Prime Reading, circus, historical, Jina Bacarr, The Stolen Children of War
I love this photo of ladies standing in line with their precious books to give to sailors and soldiers during a war that happened more than a hundred years ago. (Can you believe it?)
We’re so fortunate today we have e-Books. It gets even better when as an author, your book goes into Amazon Prime Reading… globally! If you’re a Prime member, ‘The Stolen Children of War‘ is available to read for FREE (pick up your copy before March 31st).
So, what is my book about? In one word (make that three), being a mom. The joys and little things moms love… like hugging your babies and watching them smile when they befriend a baby elephant (not the norm, but it happens in my story). My heroine in book 1 of the series ‘Lia’s Story’ is a circus performer who saves Jewish and Roma children from the Nazis (her own baby was stolen from her years ago). Lia joins the Resistance and will do anything to save the children.
The fate of these children was more awful than you can imagine.
When Jewish mothers arrived at Auschwitz holding tight onto their children, they had no idea their little ones would be ‘stolen’ from them and murdered after the selection. Innocent babes with chubby cheeks and big eyes along with young boys still in short pants and shy little girls in pigtails.
Children died during the Holocaust. No one knows exactly how many, but the estimate is around one and half million Jewish children who often died alone without their mother’s arms around them, her gentle voice whispering in their ear.
Hug your children tight today. Even if they tower over you and aren’t babies anymore. Because somewhere in the world, a mother can’t do that. Her tears have dried, but not the pain in her heart. That’s what we’re still fighting for. To save the children. God help us.
Jina
‘The Stolen Children of War’
A story told in Book 1 of this 2 book series about children hidden in plain sight in Occupied Paris 1943. In the circus.
If it’s not horrible enough my heroine Lia de Montieri, Queen of the Trapeze, has to fight the Nazis and a despicable Gestapo man in 1943 Occupied Paris, she also comes up against a depraved creature known as ‘The Magician’ because of his amazing ability to restore a woman’s face…
He lurks in the shadows only coming out to threaten what Lia holds most dear…
‘The Stolen Children of War’ is the story of a mother’s sacrifice, make that ‘mothers’, when Lia helps a Jewish woman about to be deported by helping her little girl and young boy escape.
And oh, there’s that adorable baby elephant, too.
‘The Stolen Children of War’
Amazon Kindle:
US: https://a.co/d/7iR9Xar
UK: https://amzn.eu/d/9RF8E77
AU https://amzn.asia/d/9hlZVS3
It is 1943 in Nazi-occupied Paris, and nobody is safe. Nobody, except perhaps one small group of people, who’ve always existed outside the law… in the circus.
Boldwood Books
What family isn’t a circus? My family have starring roles in telling the story of ‘The Stolen Children War’ in my old home movies.
Finding Peace and Joy Again by Kitty Bucholtz
January 9, 2026 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as ADHD in writers, It's Worth It, joy, Kitty Bucholtz, menopause, Perimenopause, writing
It’s been a rough few years for me. Burnout, butt-kicking perimenopause, then menopause that didn’t “pause” my symptoms much. I’ve felt broken. And every January, I hope and pray that this year will be better. This New Year’s, I barely let myself consider the idea for fear that I will be disappointed yet again.
And yet…
A friend of mine has been urging me for months to read some of the materials she’s found on ADHD in adult women. I’ve resisted, feeling these diagnoses are yet another fad created by Big Pharma to increase their profits at our expense. But I finally listened to one of the audiobooks over Christmas vacation. I felt as gobsmacked as when I took the CliftonStrengths test a year or so ago!
Suddenly, it seemed a light turned on in my head showing me what I already knew about myself but with a lot more depth and clarity and understanding. Both times, it was like I could see things I knew were there (like the living room couch, the TV stand, the window covered with blackout curtains) but now I could SEE them! The couch is red and has thick, soft cushions. The TV stand is small, made of pale wood, but the TV is quite large. And the window is bigger and lets in more light than I realized when it was curtained.
What a difference!!
Personality traits that I have been both comfortable with and frustrated by now appear to be different than I’d thought. Maybe I wasn’t actually broken; maybe some of my tools had broken. The tools I’d used to cope with life (we all have them, whatever our personality traits) stopped working as well when hormones and stress blind-sided me. But the books I’ve been reading have reminded me that I am not broken and I don’t need to be fixed. I’ve just been shoved, hard, off course and need to catch my breath and remind myself how to get back up again.
I have no interest in getting tested for ADHD by a psychiatrist or psychologist, but I am very interested in improving my toolbox: sharpening old skills, developing new ones, perhaps letting go of mechanisms that no longer work as well for me. And I think this is going to make a big difference in my writing.
I’ve just started reading The Artist’s Joy by Merideth Hite Estevez, and The ADHD Advantage by Dale Archer, M.D. Both are blowing me away and making me feel — I’m not the only one who feels this way!! (The book that I first read on my friend’s suggestion is A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD by Sari Solden, M.S.)
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with life, or lacking joy and passion, perhaps some of these books or other similar titles will help you get a better handle on what’s not working and how to get back on track again. I’ll continue writing about this in the future in case it’s helpful!
New Year Fresh Start
January 6, 2026 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as Authors, goals, New Years, self-publishing
Happy New Year. I have a confession. I did not complete my 2025 To Do List. Nor do I remember what was on my list apart from releasing three books and making more money than the previous year.
Now that I have that out of the way, on to what I did accomplish.
Published one book
Closed out a series
Participated in two anthologies
Completed a book for an upcoming anthology
Read 132 books (reading goal was 100 books)
Participated in two signing events
Took on more consulting projects
Sold my first book cover
Wrote 37k+ words on a new book
Tweaked another book
Updated special edition omnibuses
Started direct selling ebooks on my website
Moved all of my print books to BookVault.app (more options and better quality)
Created a newsletter template I like
Participated in several free promotions
Discovered several new authors
Got a digital library card
Researched narrators for audio books
Revamped my swag
Signed up to be a sponsor for a book con
Met more author friends
These are just a few of the things I remember, because I failed to keep better notes. However, I made a vow to keep better notes this year, so I’ll have a more accurate record of my work.
I did make more money last year than I did in 2024. The biggest two surprises were the considerable decline in sales at Amazon and the increase in direct sales. The other shocking discovery was the sales increase happened without running any ads. I’m curious to see what will happen with ads. This year I’m going to add ads to the mix and see what happens.
As for 2026 goals, here’s a taste of what I want to accomplish.
Increase income
Audio books
More special editions
More signing events
Start a new series
Create a book box
Increase mailing list
Finish cliffhangers
Advertise
This is a small list, but I’m sure it will grow throughout the year.
What are your 2026 goals.
Books by Tracy Reed
Veronica Jorge: January Featured Author
January 1, 2026 by Veronica Jorge in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Featured author, Reviewed by Veronica Jorge, Veronica Jorge, Write from the heart
Manager, Educator, and former High School Social Studies teacher, Veronica credits her love of history to the potpourri of cultures that make up her own life and to her upbringing in diverse Brooklyn, New York.
Her Work in Progress is a Young Adult Novel based on a search into her ethnic roots that explores identity, belonging, and self-discovery. Her genres of choice are historical fiction, where she always makes new discoveries, literary works because she loves beautiful writing, and children’s picture books because there are so many wonderful worlds yet to be imagined and visited.
She currently resides in Macungie, PA., but she’s still a Brooklyn girl at heart. How sweet it is!
Veronica’s story “Fiona Malone’s Fesh,” was featured in the Fall 2021 Issue of Bethlehem Writers Roundtable and is archived above.
In addition to her fiction, she has a monthly column, Write from the Heart, here on A Slice of Orange where she writes about writing, life and does book reviews.
Connect with her on Facebook @VeronicaJorgeauthor
Books Reviewed by Veronica
Spotlight on Bella Barwin
December 31, 2025 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as Bella Barwin
Bella Barwin writes galaxies ruled by dark dominance, desire, and the sting of surrender. The Alien Masters of A’Llure series features stand-alone romances in an interconnected world, with alien masters and feisty dragon heroines.
Claiming His Dragon:
A Dark Sci-Fi Alien Romance
Alien Masters of A’Llure Book 1
Jenna Barwin
ISBN: 9781952755309
Hidden Press Publishing
2025
My palm itches with the desire to tame her.
Ordered by my A’Llurian clan to choose a mate from the Drag’gon ambassadors, I expect cold negotiations and strategic pairings.
Then I see her.
Elegant. Spirited. With eyes that challenge and lips made for defiance. She awakens something deep inside me—something primal. My laz’zo stirs with the need to claim, to guide, to protect.
But she’s royalty, and royalty doesn’t follow orders or submits. Especially not to a hardened starship commander like me.
She’ll fight. She’ll defy. But I have ways of teaching obedience—lessons I’ll impress upon her slowly, thoroughly.
Until she learns. Not all cages are cold. Not all chains are visible. And love? Love can be the most exquisite restraint of all.
Because in the end, she’ll be mine—bound to me in every way that matters.
Capturing His Dragon
A Dark Sci-Fi Alien Romance
Alien Masters of A’Llure Book 2
Bella Barwin
978-1952755323
Hidden Depths Publishing
2025
She isn’t what she seems…
Standing in my spaceship’s brig, she’s a vision of fire—hair the color of a blood-lit sunset, skin patterns shimmering with edges of molten gold. Breathtaking.
But she’s also a stowaway—a shapeshifting dragon who infiltrated my spaceship, slipped past my crew, and dared to think she could remain unseen.
Defiant. Untamed. A potential enemy spy I cannot ignore.
Yet she stirs every ruthless instinct I keep buried, igniting a hunger as dangerous as it is undeniable.
And soon, she’ll learn that in my world, actions have consequences—consequences that are deeply bound together with desire…
Bella’s Books
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