Cancer – Lit World Interviews

• Title: Outshine: An Ovarian Cancer Memoir
• Author: Karen Ingalls
• Print Length: 108
• Publisher: Beaver’s Pond Press
• Publication Date: May 21, 2014
• Sold by Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• Formats: Kindle, Paperback
• Goodreads
• Genres: Memoir, Biography

I found this story incredibly informative and inspiring. There is little greater fear than hearing you have cancer—no matter whether you have a long family history of those that battled the disease or if it’s completely taking you by surprise. Most, if not all, of us, knows someone that has or had cancer. We usually watch from the outside looking in at how the person fighting for their life chooses to deal. Karen Ingalls gives us her firsthand, raw experience with one of the leading causes of death: ovarian cancer.

It’s a short book and I finished it in one sitting, finding myself wishing there was more. I couldn’t set it down and I’m amazed at how uplifting people can be when dealing with cancer. For me, this book isn’t just about fighting cancer or even teaching others about the seriousness of the issue. It’s about how she not only relied on her family and friends for comfort, but she relied on Jesus Christ’s unconditional love and grace. As I read through Karen’s story, I could see how her faith in the Holy Spirit grew stronger. Sure, she had her ups and downs, but she’s human. Still, she leaned on her faith, rather than crying out “Why me, Lord?”

At the end of the book, she listed signs to look for in ovarian cancer (formerly known as “the silent killer.”) and question suggestions for the patient and their families. I highly recommend reading Outlook: An Ovarian Cancer Memoir. It’s a quick, easy read, tightly and well written. Although I found myself fighting back tears, there were places where I giggled at the humor.

Overall Rate: 5 out of 5 stars

Biography

Karen Ingalls is the author of two novels and an award winning non-fiction book. She enjoys writing from her home office overlooking a lake in Florida.

Ms. Ingalls’s non-fiction book, Outshine: An Ovarian Cancer Memoir, won first place at the 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards in the the category of women’s health. It was a top three finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award of 2012 in the two categories of health and self-help.

The purpose of the book is to provide information about this too often deadly disease, and offer hope and inspiration to women and their families. All proceeds go to ovarian cancer research.Davida:Model & Mistress is about the love affair between her great-grandfather Augustus Saint-Gaudens and her great-grandmother Davida Johnson Clark. Very little is known about Davida except her role as a model for many of the sculptor’s famous works. Ms. Ingalls was able to use her imagination in creating the life of Davida. It won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for 2016.

Novy’s Son, The Selfish Genius, is about Murray Clark, who sought love and acceptance from his father, who had been raised as the bastard child of the famous sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. After reading Iron John by Robert Bly, Ms.Ingalls recognized what was missing in her father’s life.

She is a Californian by birth, a Minnesotan in her heart, and a contented Florida retiree. She loves gardening, golfing, and reading, but her real passion is writing.

Cluster of Lies

by Samuel Marquis

Fiction: Thriller/Suspense/Environmental/Action. 326 Pages (PRINT). Mount Sopris Publishing (September 15, 2016)

Author Biography

Samuel Marquis is a bestselling, award-winning suspense author. His books include “The Slush Pile Brigade,” “Blind Thrust,” “The Coalition,” and “Bodyguard of Deception.” He works by day as a VP–Hydrogeologist with an environmental firm in Boulder, Colorado, and by night as a spinner of historical and modern suspense yarns. He holds a Master of Science degree in Geology, is a Registered Professional Geologist in eleven states, and is a recognized expert in groundwater contaminant hydrogeology, having served as a hydrogeologic expert witness in several class-action litigation cases.

Book Description

In this second thriller in the Joe Higheagle Environmental Sleuth Series, mysterious deaths are taking place in the Rocky Mountain region outside Denver, Colorado. Joe Higheagle–a full-blooded Cheyenne geologist who has recently become an overnight celebrity for bringing down a billionaire corporate polluter–is hired to investigate Dakota Ranch, where four boys have recently died from a rare form of brain cancer, and Silverado Knolls, a glitzy soon-to-be-built development. He quickly finds himself entangled in an environmental cancer cluster investigation as well as a murderous conspiracy in which friend and foe are indistinguishable and a series of seemingly impenetrable roadblocks are thrown in his path.

Book Review

Cluster of Lies is a well plotted, fast paced, story of conscious versus greed. Marquis brings back Environmental Geologist Joseph Higheagle in what seems to be a simple case of reading reports and giving a high paying client his professional opinion, but if it were that simple, I wouldn’t be talking about it. Higheagle has to deal with some deep moments during the book that involve a lot of people. Keep quiet, go public, threaten, what should he do? The problems he faces involves a woman he’s falling for and her son that has developed cancer, most likely due to illegal dumping on the planned community they live in. Another problem is the man apparently responsible for it is the woman’s ex-lover.

Marquis gives us a great supporting cast with the telling of five main stories all linked together through Higheagle and the illegal waste dumping.

I liked Higheagles romantic interest and her son. It was a well used plot tool to discuss issues that one would want to know about while reading the book.

The antagonist of the book is more complex and disturbed than you think at first. Marquis surprised me with this one.

I read this one in about a day. It’s that fast paced and I think you’ll enjoy it.

Review by: Ronovan Hester