Liquid Gold by Caroline Swart

   For over 20 years the Smith family has been carrying a large secret, one that can change the world.  Her family has been growing sunflowers that can be pressed and the oil can be put directly into engines without adding chemicals or modifying it.  Such a cheap and easy crop to grow would surely put many large companies out of business.  Because of a certain contract Dirk Smit, who lives in South Africa, signed over 20 years ago, these sunflowers have not been able to be used for what Peter Smith and his family have been using it for.  A very few people know about these seeds and it needs to stay that way until the family can get the seeds analyzed and patented since the company who bought out Dirk's crop had not renewed the patent.  But a company called Secure Measures is keeping watch of everything going on and are prepared to go to great lengths to make sure those seeds never come to light.
   While all of this is happening, Jennifer Smith is getting acquainted with very handsome Ryan Edwards.  He is a student at the college she attends and a trustworthy guy.  Her uncle is one of Ryan's professors and Ryan frequently helps him with things.  Ryan has had a complicated past and doesn't trust others easily, but he really likes Jennifer.  Things get complicated when Jennifer's ex shows up in town again.  Things get downright dangerous when one of Ryan and Jennifer's friends is almost beaten to death by one of the men looking for the special sunflower seeds grown on her family's farm.


   This was a very fascinating book!  It seems like it would be mostly a romance, but it actually is not.  There is a lot of action and danger to this book and the romance part balances it out well.  The story line about sunflower seeds being genetically modified for use in regular car engines and such is very interesting!  It would be very dangerous indeed to hold the key to a world energy crisis.  Huge companies that produced oil and such would not want that type of competition and people could get hurt, which is what happens in the book.  I love the scientific element to it!



A word from the author:

In the early eighties in South Africa, a reporter wrote an article about a farmer who used sunflower oil to power his farm vehicles. This was before biofuel became popular and there was a lot of excitement about the news. The article went on to say that South Africa's largest fuel company had expressed interest in the farmer's endeavours. Because of sanctions, fuel was difficult to obtain and there was a lot of excitement about a new energy source. Nothing was heard about the oil after that and the story evolved into a giant conspiracy theory. I was interested in biofuel  and wanted to find out about the process. While researching the subject, I remembered the story of the farmer and imagined what his life would be like if he’d been given the chance to market the oil and this led to the idea behind Liquid Gold. A lot of research went into the book and I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible by contacting universities and people actively involved in energy research. Hopefully readers will enjoy the romance and adventure that I’ve woven around this interesting story.



*The name Dirk Smit is not a typo.  In this story he is related to the Smiths.  Peter Smith changed his name from Peter Smit.


Here are some interesting links on alternative fuel for those of you interested:

-Mythbusters- Cooking Oil as Economical Diesel Fuel (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEX1YFXYTdI

-Can I burn used vegetable oil in my car? http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-consumption/vegetable-oil-fuel.htm

-Sunflower Oil Use in Biodiesel http://www.sunflowernsa.com/oil/biodiesel/

Spring Giveaway!! Win ebooks and a print copy!!

In honor of wonderful spring time coming, I am doing a giveaway with H.L.Burke and Caroline Swart!  There are a few reviews of their works on my blog, which I will provide links for, should you want to check out their work!  The prizes will be a signed print copy of The Dragon and the Scholar: Dragon's Debt (H.L. Burke's latest book which came out very recently), an Amazon ebook of The Dragon and the Scholar: Dragon's Curse (H.L. Burke, the first book in the series), and an Aspen and the Dream Walkers (Caroline Swart) Amazon ebook.  This giveaway is open to the US and Canada!  And their are several ways for you to enter!

Here is my review of H.L. Burke's The Dragon and the Scholar: Dragon's Curse: 

http://claricesbooknook.blogspot.com/2014/03/dragons-curse-dragon-and-scholar-volume.html

Here is my review of Caroline Swart's Aspen and the Dream Walkers:

http://claricesbooknook.blogspot.com/2014/01/aspen-and-dream-walkers-by-caroline.html

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Email Interview with Caroline Swart

Here is an email interview I did with Caroline Swart, author of Liquid Gold and Aspen and the Dream Walkers!!  Thank you Caroline!

1. Please tell us a little about where you are from.

I'm from a sleepy coastal town in South Africa called Port Elizabeth in South Africa. I travel between America and Africa regularly and have lived in Atlanta and New Jersey before.

 

2. When did you publish your first book?  What was the title of the book?

My first book, Liquid Gold, was published in 2010 and it's about two college students in Idaho who are in the cross hairs of a giant oil cartel because of a family-kept bio-fuel secret. The book has plenty of action and there's a budding romance between the two main characters.

 

3. What hobbies do you enjoy in your free time?

I was a professional singer many years ago, and still sing in a band at the occasional function or pub night. Being an avid reader, you can always catch me with my nose in an e-reader, and I've been known to dabble with a paint brush at times.

 

4. Would you tell us a little about your next book in the Dream Walker Series?

 The Dream Walkers consist of four clans, Power, Water, Fire and Wind, so there's a lot of scope for new characters and books in the series. I wanted to write about Ruby and Caden next. Ruby had a good reason for making Aspen jealous and Caden, the handsome blond Water Walker, knows just how to fire up her temper. His family is against clan-mixing so there's going to be a lot of conflict and romantic tension between the two of them. She is such a beautiful character and so firey that I couldn't resist giving her a story of her own. The book is called Ruby and the Fire Walkers. Of course the tale wouldn't be complete without a villain. Lord Andreas, the leader of the chancellors in Lanta, survived the attack on his castle and is looking for revenge. Unfortunately Ruby decides to follow Caden when he goes after his missing twin brother in Muda, just as Andreas is looking for someone to punish...

5. The idea of the Dream Walker series is very intriguing.  Where did your inspiration for this series come from?

My niece, Aspen Swart, asked for a young adult book and I created the world of Lanta with the main character being named after her. Most of the characters in my books are named after friends and family - it's a fun way of involving them in my work. I decided to write about nightmares because kids hate them and I could picture evil creatures feeding on the fear they generate. Lavendula is loosely based on REM (Rapid eye movement), which is the stage when your brain dreams and nightmares happen. REM typically lasts for ten minutes a few times during the night while you sleep. That's why Lavendula is shorter than Lemona. Imagining clans of warriors who fight the nightmares and save children from bad dreams was the next step and I wanted them to be on another plane or world to make the story more exciting. I keep picturing new towns, new super powers and incredible characters in my head, so hopefully the stories will get richer and more interesting as they evolve.

 

6. Have your life experiences had an impact on your writing?

Absolutely. I worked at a Drive-In late at night in a deserted ticket office when I was a teenager. Every night I wondered what was waiting for me outside of the office door while the sounds of the movies echoed around me. That inspired a host of stories in my head. Couple that with the thousands of novels that I've read and also with being involved in the music industry - which is a fantasy in itself - on stage, on television and in casinos, and you'll understand where I get my inspiration from.

 

7. How long have you been writing?

Since junior school. I would entertain my friends with self-penned, short novels and wanted to hug my English teacher when he said I should consider a career in writing.

8. What is your favorite quote?

If you don't have a dream, how are you going to make a dream come true? (Oscar Hammerstein)

If I could create my own quote it would be as follows:
Opportunity is like a wave. When it's cresting, don't wait - grab your surfboard and ride it.

Aspen and the Dream Walkers by Caroline Swart

   Ever wonder what it was like to live in a Cinderella story?  Aspen did.  She was a teenage girl trapped in a twisty nightmare version of Cinderella where she was constantly having to deal with an evil stepsister who tortured and blackmailed her, and a stepfather who could care less about her and made sure that she and her mother had nothing, as well as felt like they were nothing.  Aspen's father had died long ago when she was a baby.  She doesn't even remember him.  But her mom still missed him a lot.  Her stepfather, Stephan, had made sure that there was basically nothing left to remember or cherish when he was through.  Aspen couldn't even buy new clothes because her mother didn't work and had no money.  However, Mirian, her stepsister, wore designer clothing and heels.  And then Dylan shows up.  He is one hot guy and Miriam is instantly interested.  She gets whatever she wants and she is after him now.  But Dylan isn't interested in her.  He is interested in Aspen.  Aspen is like him.  She fries electronics when she touches them.  It's a strange nuisance, but she also notices quickly that Dylan seems to have a little electrical charge to him as well.  And Aspen is drawn to him.  Then the dreams start coming more often.  They are so realistic, but it is like it's in a different world.  A place called Lanta where the sky is the color of a lemon until it turns purple and the bad people come out, chasing people like her and creating some horrific nightmarish creatures.  It gets even stranger when Dylan and her new friend at school, Sandy, have to explain to her that it is all real.  She is a Dream Walker and so was her father.  Her mother, however, is human.  Not just that but her father was the ruler of Lanta.  Aspen is a princess here, a member of the Power Clan.  After never having anything, she isn't sure what to do with this information.  Now that she knows the truth, Aspen must learn how her powers work and how to control them.  If she doesn't, she could hurt one of her new friends.  And then there is her Uncle Leeman that she is just meeting and getting to know.  Between dealing with new powers, a horrific stepsister, her crazy crush on Dylan, and what looks to be her rival (Ruby from the Fire Clan), she has a lot to deal with...

   "Dream Walkers have been on this earth for centuries.  We live in a parallel plane to Earth.....There are good and bad people living on this plane.  The Chancellors are the bad guys.  They become powerful and multiply on fear.  Fear is what feeds them.  Nightmares are ideal for creating fear, so they try and make as many bad dreams as they can.  A small child in the middle of a nightmare is the perfect vehicle for strengthening Chancellors.  They live on the energy created by that fear.....We're the good guys.  Our mission is to stop nightmares before they start so that children don't suffer and Chancellors don't multiply."

   This book was very clean with very minimal language and no real adult situations.  In fact, the book has a really cool story line.  It is a pretty awesome idea to write a book about a clan of people who fight the source of bad dreams.  Ingenious really.  Not only that but the fact that she has no idea who she is or what she is capable.  It is great to see that she doesn't let all that power go to her head, because Aspen has more power than most in her clan.  But it isn't very stable, and that can be dangerous.  Dylan helps her to learn how to channel that power and he absorbs it whenever it is necessary.  After she fully gets her powers, they tend to come out whenever she gets really angry or upset.  It's a good thing Dylan is around so much to help her keep it under control.  What Aspen doesn't like is how much attention he gets from Ruby.  She is way too familiar with Dylan for Aspen's liking, and she seems to snub Aspen when she can.  Great.  Another Miriam.  At least that is what I thought whenever Ruby started coming into the picture!  Rebuilding her life is requiring a hefty effort on Aspen's part, as well as that of her friends and family that is left.  Her Uncle Leeman is going to be her and her mother's savior when it comes to getting away from Stephan and Miriam.  Because of him and Dylan, they will be safe and happy.  And most importantly, Aspen won't have to hide who she is from her mother anymore.  Like I said before, it's a twisty nightmarish version of Cinderella that will keep you coming back for more!!