Sunday Salon: Bring on the Diamonds!

Yesterday on my blog I wrote about how my novel Whale Song will be gifted to 125 celebrities and special guests attending a huge event in November called Dallas Rocks 2008, which benefits Russel Simmons' Diamond Empowerment Fund and helps bring education and reform to those working in or affected by the diamond industry in Africa.

Being involved in this event made me think of films and books with diamond themes. Movies like Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio and novels like African Ice by Jeff Buick and Heart of Diamonds by Dave Donelson all paint brutal pictures of life for the African diamond miner and others involved.

Dave Donelson and I share the same publisher (Kunati Books), and I'll admit I haven't read his novel yet. My stack of to-be-read books is overflowing and I have a couple of ARCs coming in soon that I'll need to read to provide cover blurbs/reviews, plus I'm finishing my next novel and editing a non-fiction work for Hope Mission.

From everything I've seen and read about Heart of Diamonds, this novel looks like a thrilling, tense read, with methodical research on the African diamond industry and the endless civil war in the Congo.

Here's a blurb about Heart of Diamonds:

Covering the endless civil war in the Congo seems like the perfect way for television journalist Valerie Grey to escape the tangles of her personal life. But complications arise—most of them red-hot dangerous—when she stumbles onto a diamond smuggling scheme that begins in the Congo and leads to the White House.

I don't know about you, but that's enough to intrigue me!

You can read the first 2 chapters of Heart of Diamonds here.

And check out this exciting book trailer:




Diamonds might be a girl's best friend...but sometimes you have to ask: at what expense?


Visit Dave's website and blog:
http://www.heartofdiamonds.com/

http://www.heartofdiamonds.blogspot.com/

Happy reading to you all! :)

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author
http://www.cherylktardif.com/

Whale Song to be gifted to 125 celebrities at 'Dallas Rocks 2008'

I am very honored to be gifting Whale Song to 125 celebrities who will be enjoying a 'Diamond Dinner' at an event called Dallas Rocks 2008, which benefits Russell Simmons' Diamond Empowerment Fund.

In 2007, USA Today named Russell Simmons one of the “Top 25 Most Influential People of the Past 25 Years.”

The Diamond Empowerment Fund™ (D.E.F.) is a non-profit international organization that raises money to support education initiatives for disadvantaged people in African nations where diamonds are a natural resource.

Thank you to my publisher Kunati Books for helping to make Whale Song a small part of this wonderful and inspiring event. I truly appreciate it and I am positive that all who receive Whale Song will enjoy it.

A special thanks goes to Rhonda Bunton, President of Lush & Luxe PR, the company in charge of creating spectacular VIP gift bags for the celebrities attending this event and many others. I really appreciate your patience and all your hard work, Rhonda.

Dallas Rocks 2008 takes place on November 7th, 2008. More at a later date.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
Canadian suspense author
http://www.cherylktardif.com/