Writer D. L. Finn posted an awesome review of Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady along with reviews of two other amazing books. Check out her blog and learn about her own wonderful books.
Embrace your inner child with a huge hug by reading a great book! D. L. Finn
The attention to detail was amazing, and it was like I had gone on tour with Amanda. Read more here
I am so excited to share this amazing 5-star review by Annika Perry. It made my heart dance to read this review and to see that the reader gets it! Annika, a published author of a series of short stories The Storyteller Speaks: Powerful Stories to Win Your Heart and a lovely picture book, Oskar’s Quest has a great blog you should check out.
Annika’s 5-Star review on Goodreads:
With a unique blend of adventure, friendship, history and travel Darlene Foster has hit upon a winning and inspirational combination for her children’s books Amanda Travels.
The series is aimed at middle grade (aged 9-12) children, although from reading her latest book I feel it would also be suited for adept readers of a younger age as well as reluctant readers.
Darlene Foster’s latest in the series, Book 8, takes the reader to Malta after Amanda receives a letter from her best friend Leah. To receive a letter alone sends concern to Amanda in the modern digital age of emails. Leah hints that something is wrong, but gives no detail and wants Amanda to join her.
Amanda would love to leave the cold wintry weather of Canada behind her for the warmth and sun of the Mediterranean island but would it even be possible?
As with all children’s books, a resolution is quickly found and Amanda joins her class mate and his parents on their holiday on the beautiful island.
Immediately the author captures the heavenly warmth of the landscape, limestone buildings and the history perfectly. In snippets, the reader is enveloped in the amazing historical elements of the island, some of which become central to the story whilst others act as a stunning backdrop to the action.
Any reservation I had that the historical might slow down the pace of the story proved unfounded as the plot is quickly propelled along. Although there are dramatic events such a brief kidnapping, ominous warnings, chases and unexplained killings of protected birds these are all pitched gently and safely for the younger reader.
Initially, Amanda cannot even find Leah and when she finds her it turns out that Leah’s aunt has become mixed up with crooks. Two criminals want Leah’s aunt, who is an archaeologist, to steal the 4000-year-old Sleeping Lady statue from the museum otherwise there will be consequences. Could Leah even be involved?
Luckily Amanda and Leah are not alone on their mission. Max is a helpful and able go-between and Caleb, the son of the family friend, provides many comic moments throughout the book, particularly with his strange phobia of fish and love of all things Popeye.
When finally they visit the famous Popeye Village he is ecstatic and his courage shines through as he has to rescue Leah!
I like how all the main characters are slightly flawed with their fears and how through working together they find courage, helping each other. The warmth and kindness is a beacon of hope!
Amanda in Malta is a hugely enjoyable book, the writing flows with ease and the plot had me eagerly turning the pages. The book took me back to my addictive reading of the Nancy Drew mysteries as young and I can see how readers will long to read and collect the whole series of Amanda Travels.
Although I have unfortunately not read any previous books within the series this is no way hampered my enjoyment or understanding of The Sleeping Lady. The author slips in enough backstory to ensure this book is an exciting and stand-alone book.
These reviews make all the hard work of writing and publishing a book worthwhile. Thanks Annika.
Today is the last official day of the blog tour and I wish to thank everyone for your amazing support. I hope you have all found new and interesting blogs to follow and made new friends and followers. Thank you to everyone who offered to be part of the tour and a huge thanks to all of you who read, liked, commented and shared the posts. You are all amazing. Today I am being featured on Lisa Day’s blog, Book Time, where she asks me some great questions. Say hi to Lisa, a fellow Canadian who loves words – editing, writing and reading them. She reviews many great books!
I am the last stop of the Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady blog tour.
Sadly, my copy of Amanda in Malta hasn’t yet arrived, however, I have been following along with the other 11 bloggers on this blog tour so I got a sense of both Amanda, the main character, and the questions I wanted to ask its creator – Canadian author Darlene Foster.
Foster said growing up on a ranch in Alberta inspired her love of reading and seeing the world. Now retired, she has house in Spain where she spends time with her husband and rescue dogs, Dot and Lia, while writing full time. She also travels, meeting interesting people and getting inspirations for her series about Amanda, a 12-year-old girl who travels the world, learning about the people and culture while solving a mystery. Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady is the eighth book in…
The love keeps pouring in for Amanda in Malta. Here is a fabulous review by Patricia Tilton from Children´s Books Heal. Patricia writes well thought out reviews of children´s books and I am so pleased she enjoyed this adventure. I often make book buying decisions for the youngsters in my life by reading her blog. Please check it out.
Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady (The Amanda Travels Series 8)
Darlene Foster, Author
Central Avenue Publishing, May 11, 2011
Suitable for ages: 8-12
Themes: Malta, Travel, Adventure, Mystery, Theft, Friendship
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Amanda receives a postcard from her best friend, Leah, and is surprised to learn that she is in Malta with her Aunt Jenny. Reading between the lines, she senses Leah is in trouble. Desperate to help her, Amanda strikes the lottery when she’s invited to travel to Malta with her classmate Caleb Sorenson and his parents.
Amanda is intrigued by this exotic island in the middle of the Mediterranean, full of colourful history, sun-drenched limestone fortresses, stunning beaches and fascinating birds. But…who is killing the protected birds? Who stole a priceless artifact from the museum? And why is Leah acting so strange? She couldn’t possibly be involved in these illegal activities, or could she?
Today the blog tour takes us to Meggie’s Adventures,travel, thank you notes and other stories from Meg King-Sloan. Meg blogs about things she loves. When Meg was younger she had lots of interesting adventures. These included collecting postcards and other souvenirs, watching butterflies, and going to the beach with her family. Some things never change though – she still loves candy (especially chocolate), ice cream and flowers! Sounds like Meg was a bit like Amanda when she was young.
Amanda in Malta by Darlene Foster – Virtual Tour
Darlene Foster is introducing her new book with a virtual blog tour! This is the latest exciting adventure from her Amanda Travels series. If you’d like to see what other bloggers involved in the tour have written you can check out this post from Darlene’s blog.
Darleneexplains the purpose of including food in her stories:
Traditional food is important to every culture. I like to have Amanda try the local food when she travels. Children need to know that people eat different food in other parts of the world and they should at least try it. It bothers me when travellers insist on eating food only familiar to them. Amanda likes to cook and try out recipes so she collects ideas as she travels and makes them for her parents. Read more and an excerpt here
Continuing with the virtual book tour, Amanda in Malta is being featured on Michele Marcellino Somerville’s blog called the Beach Girl Chronicles. Michelle is from Pennsylvania, USA and blogs about the beach, her life, her dogs and her past. She is a fairly new blogger so pop on over, read an excerpt from Amanda in Malta and show her some blogging love. Thanks to everyone for following along with this tour.
Doing something a little different today, by participating in a Virtual Book Tour to help promote author Darlene Foster’s newest book, Amanda in Malta. I hope you will check it out!
The Blurb:
Amanda receives a postcard from her best friend, Leah, and is surprised to learn that she is in Malta with her aunt. Reading between the lines, she senses Leah is in trouble. Desperate to help her, Amanda travels to Malta with her classmate Caleb and his parents. Amanda is intrigued by this exotic island in the middle of the Mediterranean, full of colourful history, sun-drenched limestone fortresses, stunning beaches and fascinating birds. But…who is killing the protected birds? Who stole a priceless artifact from the museum? And why is Leah acting so strange? She couldn’t possibly be involved in these illegal activities, or could she?
Join Amanda and her friends as they visit ancient temples, an…
I am so pleased to be reading from my book, Amanda in Spain, on Tea Toast and Trivia.
Bookstores, libraries, and coffee shops are great places for book readings. There is something extraordinary about hearing the voice of an author reading their stories. Their voice and intonation are nuanced by the many hours of effort putting pen to paper. They created the characters, structured the plot, and lived every twist and turn that creates bumps in the storyline.
Living in the reality of Covid-19, book readings at public libraries and bookstores have been curtailed. We are learning to embrace technology in new ways. Welcome to the podcast series, “Authors Reading their Books”, which will recreate the reading spaces in a virtual venue. I invite you to put the kettle on and join the conversation on Tea Toast & Trivia. I am your host Rebecca Budd, and I am looking forward to sharing this moment with you.
I am thrilled to introduce Darlene Foster who has graciously agreed to be our guest author reading from her novel, Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting (Amanda Travels #2) which is available on Amazon. I am looking forward to meeting up with Darlene and joining Amanda on one of her many adventure.
The next stop on the blog tour for Amanda in Malta is at Miriam Hurdle’s blog, The Shower of Blessings. Miriam is sharing her review as well as my tips on writing a series. Miriam, a great supporter of other authors, has written a children’s book as well as a book of poems. Stop by and say hello to Miriam.
I’m excited to have Darlene Foster on my blog to share with you about her new release Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady (An Amanda Travels Adventure Book 8). When Amanda turned twelve, she made a wish as she blew the birthday cake candles. Here she is with her wishes come true – traveling all over the world.
I was curious about writing the Amanda series, so I asked Darlene to share with you her experience.
Is it difficult to write a series?
Writing a series can be fun. I love getting to know the main characters, Amanda Ross and her friend Leah Anderson. But I worry that the stories might get too predictable. I know my readers expect some things to be familiar, but each book needs to come with something new to keep it fresh and entertaining.
It always seems like such a long time between the day you type The End and when your book is actually released to the public. But when that day arrives, it is always exciting, no matter how many books you have written. Things are different this year so my launch for Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady will be virtual. At least for now. I wish to thank all the wonderful people who have offered to help me with this virtual launch and those who have posted reviews and guest posts leading up to this day. I am one lucky girl to have so many people on my street team!!
Jacqui Murray is starting off the tour. Jacqui so kindly chatted with me on ZOOM and gave me some super ideas on how to do a virtual blog tour. She writes amazing prehistoric sagas and offers great writing and technical advice on her blog. As well as a glowing review, she asked me a couple of questions and included an excerpt from Amanda in Malta. Hop over and enjoy.
I’m so excited to be part of Darlene Fosters launch of her eleventh Amanda book–Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady. This is a wonderful series that take kids all over the world to not only solve mysteries but visit some of the planet’s exquisite sights.
Before we get to my review of this book (spoiler: This Amanda story is great) and let you read an excerpt that will whet your appetite, I had the opportunity chat with Darlene about this book:
Why did you choose Malta as the setting for this adventure?
When I started to write this series, my goal was to introduce readers to interesting locations that may not be that well known. Malta is one such place. It’s not a country many people get to or know much about. My husband and I visited Valletta, the capital, for half a day while on a cruise. We loved it and decided to return for a week a year later. While we were there, I kept saying, “Amanda would love it here.” So, it was not surprising that I choose Malta for Amanda´s next adventure.
My eighth book in the Amanda Travels series, Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady, is set to be launched on May 11th and I am as excited and nervous as if it was my first book. A writer puts so much time, energy and emotion into a book, it really is like birthing a baby. And there is always the self doubt and nagging questions. What if no one likes this one? What if I´ve lost the ability to create a good story? What if no one buys it? What if the reviews are bad or nonexistent?
I am delighted to see that the early reviews, from the book being on NetGalley, have been positive.
Here are snippets of the reviews on Goodreads so far that have made my heart dance.
Author Darlene Foster has such a great way to tell a story and impart information about a location at the same time that I found myself thinking “Hey- I want to go to Malta!”. Beth
Darlene Foster’s Amanda is what I wish I’d had the courage to be as a tween: adventurous and well-traveled, making friends easily wherever she goes. Molly
The Blue Lagoon in Malta
Since I am unable to hop on a plane and do a book launch and tour in Canada, as I usually do, I have decided to do a blog launch/virtual tour. This is the first time I´ve done this. What I need are bloggers who would be willing to be part of the tour. If you are interested, let me know by email, darlene.foster@telus.net and I´ll send you the information. I´ll make it as easy as possible and hopefully we will all have fun. The goal is to get the word out about my book to as many readers as possible and to drive some traffic to your blog at the same time.
The YouTube trailer.
Thank you to everyone who has left a review. I really appreciate it.
Darlene Foster's Blog 