Official Site
of
Author
Diann Schindler
Castelo dos Mouros in
Sintra, Portugal
An eternal legacy and isolated
high up on one of the peaks
of the Sintra mountains,
Castelo dos Mouros
is a fortification founded
in the 10th century.
Claim Denied
a Thriller
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Feisty and outspoken Margot Evelyn Hart and her fiancé, the charming and wealthy activistAndrey Orlov Stephen leave Minneapolis to launch an exciting new life abroad. Their plan: he’ll work for the State Department, and she’ll teach English. Together, they’ll make a difference in peoples’ lives throughout the world, one country at a time, starting in Kosovo.
Within days of their arrival in the capital city, Prishtina, her world crashes. Margot learns someone killed Andy with a single gunshot to the back of his head. She refuses to believe it until a vicious stranger bangs on her apartment door. Now, she can no longer deny the facts: Andy is dead, and she is prey.
Margot knows one person in all of Kosovo, Andy’s good friend, Grey Valentin. She loathes the rotund and awkward know-it-all, but realizes he is her only hope of solving Andy’s murder.
Even before she and Grey can grieve, they face a tangled web of deceit. Each step closer to the truth reveals complicated secrets, and a threat to the lives of thousands of innocent people.
Can Margot and Grey decode the clues in time?
Will she survive?
Books
Just A Girl:
A Coming-of-Age Novel about Innocence, Isolation, Love, Heartbreak, and Discernment.
Reviews
Great romance scenes, extraordinary woman
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2020
I savored this book, but also gobbled it up. It was a page-turner, but at other times I stopped to take time to reflect.
(I gobbled up the romance scenes)
Paula walked in many women’s shoes, and forged a path for many. A shocking turn of events, followed by a surprise ending.
Read this book!
Lisa Rollo gave "Just A Girl" 5.0 out of 5 stars...a tale of love, loss , romance , deceit all interwoven in an emotional turmoil
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2017
I really enjoyed "Just A Girl" a story of growing up in a conflicted household where the protagonist isn't sure she belongs. It is a tale of love, loss , romance , deceit all interwoven in an emotional turmoil. Dr. Schindler weaves her tale using the background of the beginning of the feminist movement (when women finally had a chance to be something beyond wife and mother) and the politics of the higher education field where she moved through the system at breakneck speed.
One feels that you know the characters and "what makes them tick" but the book isn't without a couple of surprises - one particular shocking revelation -- no fair peeking ,
Particularly enjoyable was her descriptions of people and places..not just the romantic vista but the everyday. .. “she.. was lining up the thirty large terracottta pots overflowing with delicate pink geraniums on the light colored hardwood floor all along the base of the massive windows. It was like a set of a romantic movie with natural light flooding the living room, showcasing a plush black and rose Turkish rug framing the tailored white canvas sofa, dotted with happy red and pink striped throw pillows….”
Amazon Customer gave "Just A Girl" 5.0 out of 5 stars:
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2017
My normal reading pattern is mostly detective crime fiction and yet from the moment I started reading Just A Girl I found it difficult to put down. I was intrigued from the very first page. This is rare for me.
I just had to keep reading and reading, being drawn to everything Paula was going through and not able to wait to see what her life brought her next. Both emotional and exciting. I can now say that
this book comes highly recommend by me.
Anne gave "Just A Girl" 5.0 out of 5 stars:
The book kept your attention throughout as there were many ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2018
The book kept your attention throughout as there were many different scenarios with the main character and it was well written.Bring on another.
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PBS gave "The Essential Guide to a Life of Travel" 5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 10, 2019
Thorough and easy to read; the author is well traveled and presents advice, procedures and tips in a handy format to use. As an international traveler myself since 2002, I read the book with interest but also a bit of skepticism that I might disagree with some suggestions. I did not! Novice travelers would do well to read and follow this guide.
Marilyn Status gave 5.0 out of 5 stars.
Review of “ABC’S of International Travel” by Diann Schindler
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2018
I found the “ABC’s of International Travel” the perfect guide to help you plan your future vacations and get the most value for your money. If you would like to know the insights of travel and far more than your travel agent will tell you (actually more than he or she even knows about travel to certain areas of the world) then this is the perfect guide for you.
I have travelled to 60 some countries and lived in a couple, yet found Diann’s guide had many pearls of wisdom of which I was unaware. She includes tidbits that can be so very helpful for any traveler including but certainly not limited to the very best websites to visit, the requirements for checked baggage on international trips, helpful information about multi city trips, cell phone safety tips, and how to navigate the train systems so that you don’t end up in a train station on one side of a city which doesn’t connect to the next location which is common in many European cities.
Her guide to international travel is more than a complete guide as she includes many vignettes of her personal experiences which are absolutely enchanting. For those of you who have travelled internationally you know that meeting the people and learning about their culture is what makes travel so fascinating.
She brings you the magic of visiting those places.
Events
Book Signing/Bon Voyage Event
on Amelia Island, Florida
It was so much fun!
Support your local independent bookstore. They can order my books for you.
In Amelia, buy all my books at Book Loft on
214 Centre Street, Amelia Island, FL 32034
904.261.8991
They are open Monday - Saturday from 10 am - 9 pm and Sunday 10pm - 6 pm.
OR
Order on Amazon.
Bio
Diann Schindler served 25 years in higher education, first as an instructor of writing and ultimately college president. When she retired, she dabbled in tennis, music, and writing. Yet, her dream was to travel and write novels. In 2015, her fantasy was realized. She sold her house, her car, and all her possessions, save her tennis racket and Taylor guitar, and began her odyssey in Portugal. Four years later, Diann had explored 46 countries in 6 continents.
With world as her muse, this solo nomad wrote her first novel, “Just A Girl” and was ranked “sixth best coming-of-age fiction in 2107” by Amazon. Then, her friends, in American and abroad, urged her to write her nonfiction book, “The Essential Guide to a Life of Travel: the ABC’s International Travel.”
Her third book, “Claim Denied”, an electrifying international cyber-espionage thriller, emerged from her experiences as a higher educational consultant at an American university in Kosovo. Publication is summer, 2021.
At the time of this writing, Diann is in the process of moving to Portugal where she will begin work on a fourth book, a sequel to "Claim Denied." It's a small-town mystery novel packed with captivating and quirky characters, it’s set in a fictional community on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. This imaginary town is reminiscent of a quaint village she fell in love with and visited many times in early 2000. Working title “Shelby”, the release date is late 2021.
For media inquiries, please email her at DiannSchindlerAuthor@gmail.com.
Click HERE for Media Kit.
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Contact
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