tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74868416597569356002024-02-19T07:33:33.062-05:00Top Shelf BooksQuality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.comBlogger1008125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-1698526166091546042015-04-09T07:00:00.000-04:002015-04-10T06:15:18.549-04:00@JohnEWadeII Shares His Inspiration for "Glimpses of Heaven on Earth" #SelfHelp #NonFiction #Quotes <div class="p3" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">I very much enjoyed writing<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Glimpses of Heaven on Earth</i>,
as an inspirational read that I hope gives its readers some interesting
thoughts to contemplate. The book includes quotations and essays on the
following topics: peace and security, freedom, democracies, prosperity,
gender harmony, racial harmony, spiritual harmony, ecological harmony,
health, and moral purpose and meaning. This is a follow-up to my prior
book,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth</i>, which is a collection of approximately one hundred essays on these same topics.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">In this newest book,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Glimpses of Heaven on Earth</i>,
I invited four essay contributors to my prior book to join me in
collecting inspiriting quotations. Each of the five co-authors—Charlotte
L. Piotrowski, Daniel Agatino, Michael Nagler, Martin Rutte, and
I—wrote brief commentary to follow the quotations in each chapter. I
think the group did a good job of finding quotations on all of these
topics from leaders and thinkers throughout time and across the globe,
which was an exhaustive by interesting project. You will find some
familiar favorites, such as quotes from Mother Theresa and Mahatma
Gandhi, and also some that may be unfamiliar. I can imagine starting off
each day by reading a sampling of quotes from each chapter. After all,
we are all seeking to make some kind of order in the chaos of life, and I
find this book very helpful in that quest.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">Because
of the range of topics, there truly is something of interest for
everyone. I enjoyed reading about net-zero buildings in Martin’s
commentary on ecological harmony. And I think readers will be intrigued
by my predictions of everlasting life in the chapter on health. I want
to note that we did not shy away from today’s hot topics, such as racial
and gender issues, making for a very timely read.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">All
in all, our writing styles are easy to read and the content is easy to
follow, although I had to read Michael’s commentary about peace and
security twice before it really sank in. As the founder for the Metta
Center for Nonviolence, Michael is an expert in this field, and I found
myself wanting to know more about his beliefs and practices. In addition
to other books on the topic of nonviolence, Michael provides all sorts
of other helpful material on his website:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a data-mce-href="http://mettacenter.org/" href="http://mettacenter.org/"><span class="s3">http://mettacenter.org/</span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>I also has several comprehensive websites, one that specifically focuses on the topic of heaven on earth:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.heavenonearth.org" href="http://www.heavenonearth.org/"><span class="s3">www.heavenonearth.org</span></a>. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">This
book would make an excellent gift for someone experiencing change in
their life, going through difficult times, changing jobs or schools, or
for someone who enjoys being inspired to create a better life for
herself and others. I can imagine giving this book as a graduation or
retirement gift as well. Truly, anyone would benefit from reading this
short, but impactful, book.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Glimpses-of-Heaven-on-Earth.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Glimpses-of-Heaven-on-Earth.jpg"><img alt="Glimpses of Heaven on Earth" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-42087" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Glimpses-of-Heaven-on-Earth.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Glimpses-of-Heaven-on-Earth.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Editor
and author John E. Wade II has compiled a spiritual guide of invaluable
insight for finding peace and meaning in life while making the world a
better place for all. Along with co-authors Charlotte Livingston
Piotrowski, Daniel Agatino, Michael Nagler, and Martin Rutte, this
collection of enlightening essays and inspirational quotes from renowned
thinkers and leade</span></span>rs throughout history provides the intellectual tools needed to live a more harmonious life.<br />
<br />
Buy <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/GLIMPSES-HEAVEN-EARTH-Quotations-Insightful-ebook/dp/B00LOYGN3O/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1405439205" href="http://www.amazon.com/GLIMPSES-HEAVEN-EARTH-Quotations-Insightful-ebook/dp/B00LOYGN3O/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1405439205" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - Inspirational</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – G</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=John%20E.%20Wade%20II&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank" href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=John%20E.%20Wade%20II&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">Connect</b> with John E. Wade II on <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/jwadeii?ref_type=bookmark" href="https://www.facebook.com/jwadeii?ref_type=bookmark" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-78025130766204459212014-12-18T07:00:00.000-05:002014-12-18T07:00:04.092-05:00Sue Parritt on Being a Migrant & Her Writing Inspiration @OdysseyBooks #AmReading #Dystopian #Goodreads <i><b>What inspired me to write my book?</b></i><br />
<br />
Anger,
abhorrence and disbelief motivated me to write Sannah and the Pilgrim. I
was and remain appalled by past and present governments’ policy on
refugees and asylum seekers. News bulletins and current affairs
programmes helped fuel my deep concerns about the direction our country
is heading. From a country that welcomed scores of displaced people
after the Second World War, we are becoming xenophobic, rejecting those
that have fled what for most of us are inconceivable terrors. As a
migrant myself, I tried to imagine how I would have felt, if instead of
paying my ten pounds and travelling here on an ocean liner, I had been
forced to flee my homeland, hand over my life’s savings to greedy people
smugglers and risk my life by boarding a leaky overcrowded boat.<br />
<br />
My
thoughts then turned to a different category of refugees, those we can
expect in the not so distant future. Low-lying Pacific islands are
already under threat from accelerating climate change, about which
wealthy first-world countries have so far failed to act. Soon there will
be a flood of environmental refugees seeking a safe haven in our
sparsely populated and prosperous nation. How will our government react
then, when turning back the boats won’t be an option?<br />
<br />
I
felt my option as a fiction writer was to draw on contemporary
government policies regarding refugees and climate change to create a
portrait of a future Australia that is, to my mind, entirely possible.
The idea to divide the country into zones according to race of origin
came from a thinly veiled proposal made by an ultra-conservative
politician some years ago. Research into climate change led me to place
my characters in the most inhospitable part of twenty-fourth century
Australia, the extremely hot, humid and disease-ridden north. Confined
to the Brown Zone (formerly Queensland) the people, descendants of
Pacific environmental refugees, are forced to cultivate the remaining
fertile coastal strip to produce food for White Southerners, whose zone,
although more suitable for human habitation, is too arid to support
agriculture.<br />
<br />
I was inspired to create the role of
storyteller for my protagonist, Sannah, by the manner in which
information is often distorted by both the media and government in order
to provoke certain reactions. For instance, fears of being swamped by
refugees are intensified by using terms such as ‘illegals’ and concerns
over rising utility costs assuaged by promises to repeal the Carbon Tax.
Sannah’s people are kept in ignorance through a steady diet of Tales (a
weird blend of historical fact and fiction) delivered by
government-trained storytellers. In similar fashion, we are fed only
what governments and multinational companies want us to hear and it
takes a great deal of effort to uncover the truth. Lies ensure
compliance in both twenty-first and twenty-fourth century Australia.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;" style="font-size: x-small;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Sue-Parritt-author-pic.jpeg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Sue-Parritt-author-pic.jpeg"><img alt="Sue Parritt author pic" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-42296" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Sue-Parritt-author-pic-300x255.jpeg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Sue-Parritt-author-pic-300x255.jpeg" height="255" width="300" /></a> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;"><span lang="EN-US">About the Author:</span></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Sue
Parritt is an Australian writer, originally from England. Her poetry
and short stories have been published in magazines and anthologies in
Australia, Britain and the USA. After graduating BA University of
Queensland 1982 (majors: English Literature, Drama and French), Sue
worked in university libraries until taking early retirement in 2008 to
pursue her long-held dream of becoming a professional writer. Since
then she has written<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Sannah and the Pilgrim,</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>numerous short stories and poems and</span><span lang="EN-US">‘</span><span lang="EN-US">Feed Thy Enemy</span><span lang="FR">’</span><span lang="EN-US">,
a feature film script set in Naples in 1944 and 1974 and based on a
true story (Sue is currently seeking a producer). She recently completed
a second novel<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Safety Zone</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and is now writing a sequel to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Sannah and the Pilgrim<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US">–</span></i><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>the working title is<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Pia and the Skyman</i>.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Sannah-and-the-Pilgrim-by-Sure-Parritt.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Sannah-and-the-Pilgrim-by-Sure-Parritt.jpg"><img alt="Sannah and the Pilgrim by Sure Parritt" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41955" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Sannah-and-the-Pilgrim-by-Sure-Parritt.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Sannah-and-the-Pilgrim-by-Sure-Parritt.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
When
Sannah the Storyteller, a descendant of environmental refugees from
drowned Pacific islands, finds a White stranger on her domestep, she
presumes he’s a political prisoner on the run seeking safe passage to
egalitarian Aotearoa. However, Kaire’s unusual appearance, bizarre
behaviour, and insistence he’s a pilgrim suggest otherwise.<br />
<br />
Appalled
by apartheid Australia, Kaire uses his White privileges to procure
vital information for Sannah and her group of activists regarding new
desert prisons that are to be built to house all political prisoners.
The group plans sabotage but needs help, and Kaire is a willing
accomplice. But when Sannah turns Truthteller and threatens to reveal
the country’s true history, even Kaire’s White privilege and advanced
technology cannot save Sannah and her daughter from retribution.<br />
<br />
<b>About Sannah and the Pilgrim:</b><br />
<br />
Sannah
and the Pilgrim is a tale of courage, defiance and deceit that asks the
reader, ‘Would you risk death by telling the truth about your country,
or would you play it safe and spend your life as a storyteller?’<br />
<br />
Are
you concerned about our governments’ (both past and present) failure to
act on climate change and the detention and inhumane treatment of
refugees? I am, so I have drawn on contemporary conservative attitudes
to present a dystopian view of a future Australia in my speculative
fiction novel Sannah and the Pilgrim. Read it and discover what could
happen to our‘lucky’ country.<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;"><span lang="EN-US">General Information -<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><i><span lang="EN-US">Sannah and the Pilgrim</span></i><span lang="EN-US"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>by Sue Parritt</span></b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">ISBN: 978-1-922200-14-3</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Genre:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Speculative Fiction / Sci-fi / Dystopian</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Release Date: 26 April 2014 (Paperback and ebook)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Publisher: Odyssey Books (</span><span lang="EN-US"><a data-mce-href="http://www.odysseybooks.com.au/" href="http://www.odysseybooks.com.au/" target="_blank">http://www.odysseybooks.com.<wbr></wbr>au/</a>)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Amazon:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="http://amzn.to/1kBKqan" href="http://amzn.to/1kBKqan" target="_blank">http://amzn.to/1kBKqan</a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Kobo:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/sannah-and-the-pilgrim" href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/sannah-and-the-pilgrim" target="_blank">http://store.kobobooks.com/en-<wbr></wbr>US/ebook/sannah-and-the-<wbr></wbr>pilgrim</a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">B&N:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><a data-mce-href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sannah-and-the-pilgrim-sue-parritt/1119209936?ean=9781922200143" href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sannah-and-the-pilgrim-sue-parritt/1119209936?ean=9781922200143" target="_blank">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/<wbr></wbr>w/sannah-and-the-pilgrim-sue-<wbr></wbr>parritt/1119209936?ean=<wbr></wbr>9781922200143</a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">iTunes:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sannah-and-the-pilgrim/id872478599?ls=1&mt=11" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sannah-and-the-pilgrim/id872478599?ls=1&mt=11" target="_blank">https://itunes.apple.com/us/<wbr></wbr>book/sannah-and-the-pilgrim/<wbr></wbr>id872478599?ls=1&mt=11</a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Goodreads:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21883471-sannah-and-the-pilgrim" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21883471-sannah-and-the-pilgrim" target="_blank">https://www.goodreads.com/<wbr></wbr>book/show/21883471-sannah-and-<wbr></wbr>the-pilgrim</a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">Facebook:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/sue.parritt" href="https://www.facebook.com/sue.parritt" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/sue.<wbr></wbr>parritt</a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">LinkedIn:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="http://au.linkedin.com/pub/sue-parritt/60/622/301" href="http://au.linkedin.com/pub/sue-parritt/60/622/301" target="_blank">http://au.linkedin.com/pub/<wbr></wbr>sue-parritt/60/622/301</a></span></span></span></div>
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Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-3011988578220421122014-12-05T08:00:00.000-05:002015-02-27T12:56:28.632-05:00@MargaretWestlie on Anna Beaton's Murder & Writing Without an Outline #WriteTip #AmWriting #HistFic <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When
I was taking the Masters’ Degree in English at the University of
Missouri at Kansas City I was taught the germ theory of writing. You
hear a story or read an article in a magazine and take a word or a
phrase from it and create your own story around it. It need only be a
word or two, something that triggers your imagination and sends it off
into the wilds of your creative mind. As long as you take the idea and
don’t repeat it word for word you can go where you will with it. It
really is only something to spark your creativity. You can separate the
idea completely from its source once you get going on your project
because it will have no relationship to its origin anymore and is
probably no longer even recognizable as coming from there.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I get my stories from my elders. They’re all great story-tellers. <i>Anna’s Secret</i> is
a case in point. The story is based on the story of Anne Beaton’s
hollow where a murder took place 150 years ago that was blamed on an
ancestor of mine. He was subsequently cleared of the deed and left
Prince Edward Island. I took the fact of her murder and fictionalized
it by changing her personality, the circumstances surrounding her life
and death, and putting in characters who never existed outside of my
imagination. I asked myself questions like: What if she had been
someone entirely different than who she was purported to be? Who was
she really? Who did she really go to see? Was it an innocent visit or
was it a clandestine affair as everyone thought? Who really murdered
her? What were the motivations? Questions of this nature lead to a
well fleshed-out novel not based on the original story, which was
probably based in truth. Then I took the original question of who she
really was and who I thought she should be and dug and explored all her
fictional relationships which eventually led to the denouement.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
have never used an outline. I tried it once because I was told it was
the best way to work but it didn’t work for me. It kept me too bound by
the structure of the outline. I felt I had to write by the rules when
my characters wanted to do something different. I had to let them be
themselves. They become living people in my mind and you have to let
people do whatever it is they need to do. They talk to me and argue
with me and agree with me just like real people. You can’t be too
controlling or your story will become too rigid and awkward. Let you
characters tell the story. Keep notes as to who is related to whom and
when they did a certain thing and anything else you think you might get
hazy on as the story moves along. That way you don’t have to keep going
back to look for it, should you need that information again. So try
writing without an outline, you never know where your characters will
take you or why they want you to go there.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/annasSecret.jpg" /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anna
Gillis, the midwife and neighbour in Mattie’s Story, has been found
killed. The close-knit community is deeply shaken by this eruption of
violence, and neighbours come together to help one another and to
discover the perpetrator. But the answer lies Anna’s secret, long
guarded by Old Annie, the last of the original Selkirk Settlers, and the
protagonist of An Irregular Marriage. Join the community! Read Anna’s
Secret and other novels by Margaret A. Westlie.</span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IEEXUMO" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a> & <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/418795" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Smashwords</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Fiction, mystery, historical</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – G</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Margaret-Westlie/e/B00HZRKK10" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <b>Connect</b> with Margaret Westlie on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/margaretwestlienovelist" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/MargaretWestlie" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.margaretwestlie.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy29ilE1Iu2yMnk-3FJ1ZhE-qq3C3Qg" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.margaretwestlie.com</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-42765652210530157142014-12-03T09:30:00.000-05:002014-12-04T09:04:13.425-05:00Moxie Meets Count Gamel in MOXIE'S PROBLEM by Hank Quense @hanque99 #Excerpt AmReading #SciFi <b>Scene Background:</b> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<b>Moxie is on her way to meet her betrothed
Count Gamel. Three apprentice knights, Percivale, Bore and Gareth are
escorting her there. </b><br />
<br />
Bors rode to the top of a
hill and examined a flat, boulder-strewn summit. Beyond the boulders, a
grassy knoll butted against a tall outcrop that would shelter them from
the wind. Bors rode past the boulders, dismounted on the grass and
removed the saddle from his horse, Escrow. He grunted in pleasure as a
cool breeze wafted over him.<br />
<br />
Percivale, Gareth and
Moxie joined him on the knoll and they decided to camp there. Soon, all
the mounts were unsaddled, hobbled and grazing nearby.<br />
<br />
After
tending to his horse, Escrow, Bors studied the boulders. Something
about them seemed strange, almost unnatural. The rocks were in lines
almost like the beads on his abacus. He ignored Moxie's latest
outburst of whining and continued to examine the rocks. Dark gray
boulders — dozens of them — covered the area in three lines with exactly
twenty rocks in each line. A fourth rank, separate from the other
three, contained five rocks.<br />
<br />
"How dare you!" Moxie roared.<br />
<br />
Bors
grabbed his sword hilt and whirled towards the sound of her voice.
Moxie stood ten feet away glaring at a boulder in the middle rank.<br />
<br />
"What's goin' on?" Percival, also on foot, asked her. Gareth stood near Percivale, looking quizzically at Moxie.<br />
<br />
"I'm a princess, you impudent rock. Apologize this instant or I'll break you into rubble."<br />
<br />
Bors
gawked at her. The memory of a story an old hunter once told him and
his father flooded his brain and almost overwhelmed him with the danger
they faced. His skin crawled.<br />
<br />
Moxie picked up a fist-sized rock.<br />
<br />
Bors gasped. Moxie was about to get them all killed.<br />
<br />
Moxie bounced the rock off the boulder.<br />
<br />
Bors ran to her and grabbed her arm before she could do more damage.<br />
<br />
"The stone insulted me." Moxie frowned at Bors as if she suspected his motives.<br />
<br />
"Why did you throw the rock?" Percivale asked.<br />
<br />
"Moxie just attacked one of the rock-folk," Bors said in a quavering voice.<br />
<br />
"I did what?"<br />
<br />
"She did what?" Percivale said. "I'm confused."<br />
<br />
Bors
waved an arm around the boulder collection. "This is a rock-moot.
I've heard about them. The rock-folk come together to settle problems
and make new laws. And the stone Moxie threw was a rock-baby."<br />
<br />
"The big one degraded me." Moxie sniffed and pointed at the boulder. "It made lewd suggestions."<br />
<br />
"Rocks can't talk," Gareth said. "Leastwise, not so we can hear them."<br />
<br />
"I
can hear them. I’m descendent from the Ancient Ones. Royal Ancient
Ones, of course. And the Ancient Ones were descended from the fairies.”<br />
<br />
"We have to get out of here," Bors said. "Fast."<br />
<br />
"Why is the ground shaking?" Moxie looked alarmed. She grabbed Percival's arm to steady herself.<br />
<br />
"It's the rock-folk," Bors said. "They're gettin' all worked up over Moxie's attack."<br />
<br />
Their
mounts whinnied in fear at the trembling ground. They jumped and
stamped their hooves and strained at the hobbles until they broke free.
The four horses ran down the hill and disappeared into the forest.<br />
<br />
A worried Bors said, "We have to get out of here. Let's grab the saddle bags and put some distance between us and the rocks."<br />
<br />
A boulder inched closer to Moxie's foot and she shrieked.<br />
<br />
Percivale made a face at the sudden pain in his ear from Moxie's reaction, but didn't move, as if frozen in place.<br />
<br />
"Someone has to get my horse," Moxie said.<br />
<br />
"I
ain't goin' through those rocks." Gareth pointed to a group of rocks
rolling to form a line between them and the direction the horses went.<br />
<br />
"We have to leave." Bors pushed Moxie in the back. "That way."<br />
<br />
"Unhand me! And what about dinner? I'm hungry."<br />
<br />
"Dinner
will be very late tonight, Your Royal Feyness." Bors kept his hand on
her back, nudging her away from the builders. He grabbed Moxie's saddle
bag and handed it to her, then picked up his own.<br />
<br />
"You expect me to carry that?"<br />
<br />
Bors
dropped her saddle bags. "If you don't carry it, it stays here and
gets crushed by the rocks. I'm not carryin' yours, you are."<br />
<br />
Bors
looked at Percivale who stood without moving, his face drained of
color. Bors grabbed an arm and yanked Percivale backward. Percivale
blinked and gave Bors a strange look. "Come on, Perc," Bors yelled.
"Snap out of it and let's get goin'."<br />
<br />
Percivale picked up his saddlebags and trotted away from the boulders.<br />
<br />
A few minutes later, they descended the hill.<br />
<br />
"Moxie, look out!" Gareth yelled.<br />
<br />
Bors turned and saw a boulder thundering down the hill. A bow wave of dirt sprayed out on both sides of its path.<br />
<br />
Gareth
dropped his saddle bags and pushed Moxie out of the way. Both landed
in a heap a moment before the boulder sped past them.<br />
<br />
"Get off me, you blundering lummox."<br />
<br />
Gareth
picked himself up and pointed to the boulder now at the bottom of the
hill and rapidly losing speed. "Must have been sentry." He went over
to his saddle bags, partially crushed by the boulder.<br />
<br />
"Are
these rocks stupid or something?" Moxie stood with her hands on her
hips. "Commoners are supposed to ignore royal misunderstandings."<br />
<br />
"I don't think rock-folk are impressed with your royal birth," Bors said. "Let's get movin'.<br />
<br />
"When do you think the horses will come back?" Moxie asked. "I can't carry my saddle bags all the way to Count Gamel's."<br />
<br />
"Those
animals ain't comin' back," Percivale said. "Not after the way they
got spooked. They're inna next county by now." The color had returned
to his face.<br />
<br />
"Can someone please carry my bags?" Moxie
asked in a pleasant voice while fluttering her eyelids. "They have my
wedding dress in it."<br />
<br />
Bors slung his own bags over one
shoulder and said, "It'll do you good to get some exercise." He turned
his back on her and walked east.<br />
<br />
"We gotta get a lotta
miles from here before we can stop for me to cook the rabbits I caught."
Gareth tied two hares to a saddle bag. "We better start pickin' nuts
and berries if we see any."<br />
<br />
Bors shook his head. He wished the adventure would go back to being boring again.<br />
<br />
Moxie
huffed, stamped her foot and picked up her saddle bags. She followed
the three knights while raining insults and curses down on their
collective heads.<br />
<br />
Moxie had never thought that life
outside the castle could be so difficult. Her escorts made her sleep on
the ground with only two thin blankets: one under her and one on top of
her. She had to sleep in her clothes. The men made her get up at
dawn. She had to eat cold meals when it rained. They made her ride the
horse all day long. The knights were disrespectful of her nobility.
They often ignored her commands.<br />
<br />
It was if she was a
peasant not a princess. And now they didn’t have horses and had to walk
and non one would carry her saddlebags.<br />
<br />
Moxie dropped the saddlebags to wipe her tear-filled eyes. Gamel better be worth all this misery she thought.<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13.3333339691162px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13.3333339691162px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Moxies-Problem.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Moxies-Problem.jpg"><img alt="Moxie's Problem" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-42271" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Moxies-Problem.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Moxies-Problem.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
Do
you enjoy untypical coming-of-age stories? Well, you won’t find one
more untypical than Moxie’s Problem. Moxie is an obnoxious, teen-age
princess who has never been outsider her father’s castle. Until now. The
real world is quite different and she struggles to come to grips with
reality. The story takes place against a backdrop of Camelot. But it
isn’t the Camelot of legends. It’s Camelot in a parallel universe. So,
all bets are off!<br />
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13.3333339691162px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Moxies-Problem-Hank-Quense-ebook/dp/B00MK5UA80/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1409836365&sr=1-1&keywords=hank+quense" href="http://www.amazon.com/Moxies-Problem-Hank-Quense-ebook/dp/B00MK5UA80/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1409836365&sr=1-1&keywords=hank+quense" target="_blank">Amazon</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/448914" href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/448914" target="_blank">Smashwords</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Genre – Fantasy, Sci-fi</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Rating – G</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Hank-Quense/e/B002BM76IE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Hank-Quense/e/B002BM76IE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Connect with Hank Quense through<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/StrangeWorldsOnline" href="https://www.facebook.com/StrangeWorldsOnline" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>&<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/hanque99" href="https://twitter.com/hanque99" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: bold !important;">Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://hank-quense.com/wp/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy29hrxwzFyEMQY_AGYyT9ew6gPqByA" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://hank-quense.com/wp/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy29hrxwzFyEMQY_AGYyT9ew6gPqByA" target="_blank">http://hank-quense.com/wp/</a></b></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13.3333339691162px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-36889607189509724572014-11-20T12:00:00.000-05:002015-01-05T05:35:26.117-05:00NAKED TRUTH : Saving Liam #Excerpt by DP Denman @DPDenman #MustRead #LGBT #AmReadingLiam finished his sandwich, left the plate in the sink, and strode across the condo to the guestroom they’d converted to a home gym. He didn’t need a workout, but he definitely needed a shower, and this one guaranteed he wouldn’t wake Justin while he took it. He stripped out of his clothes and stared back at the night on the other side of the wall of windows. He no longer felt the wiggle of anxiety from being nude in a room so exposed to the city. The vulnerability was an illusion. There were no buildings near enough to see him without a telescope, and if watching him toss dirty clothes in a hamper was someone’s idea of a turn on he wouldn't fault the poor, lonely bastard his hang-ups as long as he did it from a distance.<br />
<br />
After so many nights as a spectacle on the stage, it was easier to shrug off the fear of prying eyes than it used to be as long as he wasn’t in a room of horny men. He’d gotten past quite a few things, but he wasn’t brave enough to deal with that. He wasn’t sure he ever would be, even with the rumor that men at Spark tipped better than the women did. He already made plenty of money.<br />
<br />
He turned on the bathroom light and smiled at the thought while he pushed the door closed. For the first time since his parents had thrown him out, he was making enough to support himself. In a city with the illustrious title of Most Expensive in Canada, that was something worthy of a little pride. His job guaranteed he wouldn’t have to suffer the horrors of street life ever again and he was building a savings account to make sure it stayed that way. If anything happened to break him and Justin up, it would hurt, but it wouldn’t put him back on the street. That was the most important thing, though his broken heart would argue the point.<br />
<br />
He scrubbed the night from his hair and body and dried off before wrapping the towel around his waist. He tugged the door open, turned off the light, and crossed the moonlit condo to creep into the bedroom. Justin was a lump under the blankets of their four-poster bed. He moved on silent feet to the walk-in closet and traded the towel for a clean pair of boxers before climbing under the covers to snuggle close to his sleeping man.<br />
<br />
“How was work?” Justin mumbled.<br />
<br />
“Same old.”<br />
<br />
Justin kissed his head, wrapped him in his arms, and drifted back to sleep. Liam shushed the regret over a single mumbled question that used to be an actual conversation about his night. He didn't want to contemplate what that could mean for their relationship if the distance between them continued to grow. It was too scary.<br />
<br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13.3333339691162px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/nakedTruth.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/nakedTruth.jpg"><img alt="nakedTruth" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-42565" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/nakedTruth.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/nakedTruth.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
Buried lies never die.<br />
<br />
Liam
has a new career, a new condo, a newfound sense of control and none of
it is quite right. Shadows drift behind the bright sparkle of his life;
things he's determined to ignore until a shocking revelation makes it
impossible. With the help of Justin and a new friend, Liam must face the
life he's buried.<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Truth-Saving-Liam-Story-ebook/dp/B00OABL9AU/ref=la_B00GDFXYRM_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414160309&sr=1-4" href="http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Truth-Saving-Liam-Story-ebook/dp/B00OABL9AU/ref=la_B00GDFXYRM_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414160309&sr=1-4">Amazon</a></span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - Contemporary Gay Romance</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – R</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="color: black;">More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/DP-Denman/e/B00GDFXYRM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/DP-Denman/e/B00GDFXYRM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">the author</a></span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">Connect</b> with DP Denman through <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/dp.denman" href="https://www.facebook.com/dp.denman">Facebook</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/dpdenman" href="https://twitter.com/dpdenman">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.dpdenman.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-DLi5dDgA5m5fi0qAOEgURgxnQDg" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.dpdenman.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-DLi5dDgA5m5fi0qAOEgURgxnQDg" target="_blank">http://www.dpdenman.com</a></b></span></span></div>
<br />Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-940256032668611972014-11-08T08:00:00.000-05:002014-12-30T02:23:49.604-05:00@Lord_Ra_Krishna on Focusing Your Attention from Negative to Positive #AmReading #Motivaltional <b><br />How do you work through self-doubts and fear?</b><br />
Excellent
question. First of all I turn to the most simplest action, to breathe.
Concentrating on deep breaths and then meditation. Once I find balance
within myself I utilize what is known in Hermetic philosophy and
alchemy, as mental transmutation. All that basically means is to focus
your attention from a negative point to a positive. For example if I’m
feeling fear, instead of attempting to erase the fear I focus on courage
and allow the courage to transmute the fear. The courage comes from my
desire to inspire people.<br />
<b><br />What scares you the most? </b><br />
Not being myself, and not being the self I have “evolved” into. Also not for filing my destiny. <br />
<b><br />What makes you happiest? </b><br />
I
am already happy, you have to be happy from within first. Also making
other people happy, seeing my children smile, seeing other people smile,
seeing people happy when they “get it” or have an “AH-HA “ moment.
Beautiful music, the ocean and some good “legal” medical marijuana. <br />
<b><br />What’s your greatest character strength</b>?<br />
Giving<br />
<b><br />What’s your weakest character trait?</b><br />
Patience <br />
<br />
<b>Why do you write? </b><br />
I actually just like to create with words, in itself. However, the point of my writing is to share new ideas and create doubt. <br />
<b><br />What are you most proud of in your personal life? </b><br />
My children <br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyYloDnlCXe6Dr1gs9v3_f18xaoaG26D85OqJGrxpY2WI2D4xcvdyyGlcjXUgWa2Ywuh6Q9otHM3Vh5cX3ujDQ9KdgKh6I9RszuN6tq9pXHharN6bgWhYSo8tkpep_3t9kO5Q7j20FCBk/s1600/10543606_799244456762857_1951121046706555738_n.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyYloDnlCXe6Dr1gs9v3_f18xaoaG26D85OqJGrxpY2WI2D4xcvdyyGlcjXUgWa2Ywuh6Q9otHM3Vh5cX3ujDQ9KdgKh6I9RszuN6tq9pXHharN6bgWhYSo8tkpep_3t9kO5Q7j20FCBk/s1600/10543606_799244456762857_1951121046706555738_n.png" height="320" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
"This
“new age” book of poetry reflects the diverse views and philosophies of
it’s author Ra Krishna EL. It’s an intimate, humorous and thought
provoking group of poems intended to evoke strong emotion. To quote the
German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, this style of poetry can be
called “Zukunfts poesie“ which translates into “Poetry of the future”,
where truly original ideas are presented thru poetry. Also known as post
Nietzschean poetry.<br />
<br />
It’s subjects include society, pop
culture, love, religious dogma, God and the new age of Aquarius. This
book was written and published during the false incarceration of its
author in Chicago’s notorious Cook County Jail, the largest jail in the
country."<br />
<br />
Bu<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">y Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Lucifer-indigo-kids-Last-Prophet-ebook/dp/B00L3VL7E8/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406567843&sr=1-1&keywords=lucifer+and+the+indigo+kids" href="http://www.amazon.com/Lucifer-indigo-kids-Last-Prophet-ebook/dp/B00L3VL7E8/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406567843&sr=1-1&keywords=lucifer+and+the+indigo+kids" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - Poetry, Philosophy</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG-13</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Lord%20Ra%20Krishna%20EL&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank" href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Lord%20Ra%20Krishna%20EL&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">Connect</b> with Lord Ra Krishna EL on <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lord-Ra-Krishna-El/729737850380185?ref=hl" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lord-Ra-Krishna-El/729737850380185?ref=hl" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/Lord_Ra_Krishna" href="https://twitter.com/Lord_Ra_Krishna" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-82558392835587802452014-11-07T07:30:00.000-05:002014-12-29T04:44:46.242-05:00#Excerpt from Touching Madness (River Madden) by K S Ferguson #AmReading #Fantasy #GoodreadsI cowered at the hooves of the eight-foot tall demon, wallowing in
the soot and debris of the apocalyptic cityscape. He frowned at me, and
his mouth formed words, but I couldn't understand him. Hoards of
translucent black cloud nightmares rose and fell through cracks in the
scarred ground, widening the fissures with each pass. They roiled around
us, cutting off light coming from a source that I couldn't identify. I
opened my mouth to scream, and one of the nightmare clouds poured in,
clogging my throat, filling my lungs with ash, and shooting burning
cinders up through my brain. I thrashed, trying to get to my feet so I
could run, but I no longer had legs.<br />
<br />
I jerked awake,
thoroughly tangled in the space blanket, my legs numb, and looked into a
pair of amber eyes that stared back at me along the blade of a big,
scary military-type knife pointed at my throat. I swallowed hard. Boy,
had I screwed up.<br />
<br />
"Hi," I said.<br />
<br />
She
didn't blink. My God, she was beautiful in the pre-dawn light glowing
through the windows. No human looked that perfect. Was she real? I freed
my right hand and ever so slowly raised my index finger to the tip of
the blade while she watched. When I pressed lightly against the point,
it pricked my skin. I pulled my hand back. Blood welled from the tiny
cut. Yep, real. Shit. She'd taken me prisoner.<br />
<br />
"We're surrounded by cops," I said. "If you stick me, I'll scream like a girl."<br />
<br />
Ah,
crap, why'd I used that expression? She probably screamed like an
Amazon warrior. How'd she even lift a knife that big? She was such a
tiny thing. All the cops I'd met were big louts. But she had the drop on
me, and the knife was a lot more threatening than her wand thingy.<br />
<br />
"Who
are you? Where are we? How'd I get here?" she asked. The taut muscles
around her eyes telegraphed fear, and the knife trembled in her hand.<br />
<br />
I
rubbed my prickling wrist tattoos against my jeans and caught a whiff
of something burnt. I glanced around the kiosk. Up near the ceiling, a
trace of shapeless sooty cloud leaked out through the crack around the
door. My mouth opened, closed.<br />
<br />
"Do you smoke?" I asked,
hoping she'd tell me she did. The cloud could have been cigarette smoke
even if it didn't smell like tobacco… purposeful cigarette smoke, on
the dark side. A hallucination. Not real.<br />
<br />
A frown
joined her stare. Oops. I'd wandered off topic. What had she asked? Who
are you? But her team had that tracking device that reacted to me. How
could she be looking for me but not recognize me?<br />
<br />
"I
brought you here so they wouldn't shoot you. I had to hide you while I
led him away." I gave her a tentative smile and waited for her to gush
her thanks for saving her life. Maybe she'd be so grateful, she'd tell
me about the tracking device—and point that big knife some other
direction. Then I could get away before she figured out who I was.<br />
<br />
She
added narrowed eyes to the stare and the frown. I chewed my lower lip.
Maybe I wasn't communicating as well as I'd hoped. I felt woefully
inadequate talking to someone as lovely as her, especially someone
carrying a dangerous weapon. It could have been worse—at least I hadn't
degenerated into word salad or spoken in rhymes.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Touching-Madness.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Touching-Madness.jpg"><img alt="Touching Madness" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41637" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Touching-Madness.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Touching-Madness.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Light
bulbs talk to River Madden; God doesn't. When the homeless
schizophrenic unintentionally fractures a dimensional barrier and
accidentally steals a gym bag containing a million dollars, everyone
from the multiverse police to the local crime boss—and an eight-foot
tall demon—are after him. Can he dodge them long enough to correct his
mistakes and prevent the destruction of three separate dimensions? If he
succeeds, will the light bulbs stop singing off-key?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007H9QPLA" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007H9QPLA" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Contemporary, Urban fantasy</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – R</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=K%20S%20Ferguson&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank" href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=K%20S%20Ferguson&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.ksferguson.net&usd=2&usg=ALhdy28uYLnWK2puPbkhz-G_C7dYRTpoBw" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.ksferguson.net&usd=2&usg=ALhdy28uYLnWK2puPbkhz-G_C7dYRTpoBw" target="_blank">http://www.ksferguson.net</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-88018252946662281902014-10-28T08:30:00.000-04:002014-11-06T08:42:09.218-05:00Mike Hartner on Being Social, Not Spamming and Book Marketing @MHartnerAuthor #AmWriting #HistFic <b>How To Network Online to Sell Your Book</b><br />
<br />
First,
I must print this disclaimer. I’m not a marketing individual. And I,
James, the second book of The Eternity Series which will be released in
September 2014, is only the second book that I’ve tried to market.
So, everything has been trial and error. But, I will borrow heavily
from badredheadmedia.com’s Rachel Thompson, and several others, and the
lessons they have taught me.<br />
<ol>
<li>You need an Online Presence. Gmail+, FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest….
They all have their uses. Personally, I’m on FaceBook, and Twitter.</li>
<li>Facebook has my personal page, where my family and friends reside,
and then a Corporate page which is where I try to publicize The Eternity
Series. And other projects that I have. BcBaldEagles.com also comes to
mind. It’s also a separate corporate page. And the three pages share
posts from each other.</li>
<li>Twitter is my second social media channel. @MHartnerAuthor is my
identity, since Rachel once said, it’s better to publicize yourself as
an author than to publicize individual books, and keep changing the
identity. Son’t confuse people. Publicize yourself as an author.</li>
<li> First Rule of Social Media: It’s Social. Don’t Spam. Don’t spill
every word saying ‘Buy my book’. Build relationships, show people your
interests outside of writing. If you’re interested in Nutella, and
Alaskam wilderness cabins, show that. If it’s quilting, crocheting and
flowers you’re interested in, show that. Let people meet the REAL you.</li>
<li>Pluggio and hootsuite are great tools. Pluggio allows you to ‘drip’
every few hours news topics of your interest. Hootsuite allows you to
post on more than one site from a consolidated dashboard. Both are
useful.</li>
<li>Don’t expect everyone who follows you to remain. But help them by
not including expletives in every second post, or every third word.
Show them that you can enjoy life as much as it can frustrate you.</li>
</ol>
Social Networks allow you to reach out to a lot of other people.
AS much as you want others to follow you, follow them. Find others
with your interest. Other authors, other Nutella aficionados, other
quilters, whatever… By following a wide range of others, a wide range of
them will follow you.<br />
<br />
BLOG, or get blog tours. Blog
tours are GREAT exposure for your book. They usually have a wide and
diverse cross section of reviewers, who are all interested, to some
extent, in your writing.<br />
<br />
HELP OTHERS. If you can help
others with your lessons, do. If you can Share other’s posts,
announcements, etc… chances are they’ll share yours. And your messages
will get out to people you never expected.<br />
<br />
90/10 Rule.
At least 90 percent of your posts and blogs should be focused on
things OTHER THAN selling your book. Great reviews are one thing you
can announce more often. Share Reviews of books you’ve read. Even
better if they’re current books (last five years). Even Better if
you’re following the author when you post the review.<br />
<br />
ENGAGE
your audience. Snippets, comments, and reviews of everyone’s work are
great things to post. Top Ten lists about your life, about your
hobbies… all of these build audience.<br />
<br />
And while you’re building audience, but not screaming BUY MY BOOK, chances are some people will buy it.<br />
<br />
And that’s what makes social media so great. Being Social.<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IJames.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IJames.jpg"><img alt="IJames" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41780" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IJames.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IJames.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">James Crofter was ripped from his family at age 11. <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />Within a year the prince was a pauper in a foreign land. <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />Is nature stronger than nurture? And even if it is, can James find the happiness he so richly desires? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/I-James-Eternity-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00MQHIG0Q/ref=la_B009VJQBEA_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409891856&sr=1-5" href="http://www.amazon.com/I-James-Eternity-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00MQHIG0Q/ref=la_B009VJQBEA_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1409891856&sr=1-5" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - Historical Fiction, Romance</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Mike-Hartner/e/B009VJQBEA/" href="http://www.amazon.com/Mike-Hartner/e/B009VJQBEA/" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Mike Hartner on <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Hartner-Author/368690356556759" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Hartner-Author/368690356556759" target="_blank">Facebook</a> &amp; <a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/MHartnerAuthor" href="https://twitter.com/MHartnerAuthor" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-52225685402230484212014-10-25T11:30:00.000-04:002014-11-09T08:20:17.374-05:00#Excerpt from The Seer’s Lover by Kat de Falla @KatDeFalla #GoodReads #Fantasy #BookClub She traced a circle in the sand with her finger.<br />
<br />
Why would she disclose her whole existence to someone she’d just met? Someone who talked so little about himself that she found herself talking to fill the void. Saying things she could barely admit in her own head.<br />
<br />
His hand covered hers. “I’m lonely, too. Getting to know you this week has been the brightest point in my life and I don’t want you to leave, but I know the only place you’ll be safe is far away from me.”<br />
<br />
She swallowed. He had read her mind.<br />
<br />
He lay down on his back and closed his eyes. “Cali, you know when you hear a song for the first time and you kind of ingest it? You can’t possibly know right away that it will be one of your favorite songs for the rest of your life. A classic.”<br />
<br />
“Yeah.” She hoped he was going somewhere good with this.<br />
<br />
“That first listen,” he continued, “you pick up a little of the melody and some lyrics that catch you. But when the song ends, you have to hear it again because you want to memorize all the words and sing along. After you hear it a few times and learn the words inside and out, then you begin to let the melody seep inside you. Next thing you know, you’ve completely digested the song and find yourself humming it while you are doing nothing, like shaving or driving your car. Finally, the song becomes so ingrained it becomes a part of you. Forever. You can recall it and it’s with you whenever you need it. Am I making any sense?”<br />
<br />
She nodded, blinking back the tears fighting to fall.<br />
<br />
“Cali, I don’t want you to go back because you’re my favorite song.”<br />
<br />
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-Seers-Lover.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-Seers-Lover.jpg"><img alt="The Seer's Lover" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-42166" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-Seers-Lover.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-Seers-Lover.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
For
years, Calise Rowe has been able to sense unusual energy from people,
making her believe she is different. Pulled into an ancient war raging
for centuries between demon hunters and seers, she's about to find out
she's right.<br />
<br />
Her search for the truth leads her to
Lucas Rojas, a seer of angels and demons who walk the earth shrouded
from normal human eyes. He's hidden his gift for years and refuses to
endanger Calise by sharing it with her.<br />
<br />
In the sultry
Costa Rican Jungles, their worlds collide. As their passion and desire
ignite, so does the ancient war between demons and seers. Will their
combined efforts be enough to save themselves and the entire human
world, or will their new found love be their downfall?<br />
<br />
**Download free music for The Seer's Lover at <a href="http://www.bayafaya.com/">http://www.bayafaya.com/</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Seers-Lover-Seven-Archangels-ebook/dp/B00ILXE2NO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405792639&sr=8-1&keywords=the+seer%27s+lover" href="http://www.amazon.com/Seers-Lover-Seven-Archangels-ebook/dp/B00ILXE2NO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405792639&sr=8-1&keywords=the+seer%27s+lover">Amazon</a> & <a data-mce-href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/423893" href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/423893">Smashwords</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - Dark Fantasy</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – R</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Kat-de-Falla/e/B00IMG1YA4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kat-de-Falla/e/B00IMG1YA4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">Connect</b> with Kat de Falla through <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/authorkatdefalla" href="https://www.facebook.com/authorkatdefalla">Facebook</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.twitter.com/katdefalla" href="https://www.twitter.com/katdefalla">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-87534162617389210692014-10-17T08:00:00.000-04:002014-10-18T11:03:51.003-04:00DARK CHEMISTRY - #Excerpt from Chapter 5 - by Kirsten Mortensen @KirstenWriter #Romance #Suspense<i><b>*****In this excerpt, the novel’s fifth chapter, we catch our first hint of the powers of the story’s villain, Gerad Picket.</b></i><br />
<br />
One
of the plot elements in Dark Chemistry is that a brilliant but odd
research chemist has learned how to create powerful, synthetic
pheromones—odorless, undetectable chemicals that can exert strong
subjective effects on people exposed to them. These chemicals can
influence peoples’ moods, for example, or cause them to feel aroused.<br />
<br />
The
two characters we visit in this scene are Donavon Todde, the man who
will soon fall in love with the protagonist. He’s known the other
character in the scene, Jessica Thomas, since they were kids. Here, they
learn that Gerad seduced an RMB intern. What they don’t know—yet—is
that he used synthetic phermones to do it. Hopefully they’ll figure it
out in time!<br />
<br />
As soon as they were wheels down, he turned his phone back on.<br />
<br />
It began to vibrate almost immediately: three texts, all from Jessica, all time-stamped from about an hour ago.<br />
<br />
Donnyboy, you back in town?<br />
<br />
Something’s happened.<br />
<br />
Ellyn. shitshitshitshit<br />
<br />
Oh,
boy. Donavon considered whether or not to text back. He liked Jessica
okay—he’d known her for years, first as the older sister of one of his
high school buddies, now because they worked for the same company—but
ugh. The way women can turn the most inane crap into giant freaking soap
operas ... And this Ellyn. Some intern working in R&D. Cute, but
she’d turned out to be a bit of a flake. Crying jags at work—that sort
of thing. Trouble at home or something, must be.<br />
<br />
And of course, Jess had adopted her.<br />
<br />
He
peered out of his window. They were nearly at the gate. And all his
stuff was in his carry-on, so once he deplaned he just needed to get his
car. It wouldn’t take long. He’d be home in an hour ...<br />
<br />
His phone buzzed again.<br />
<br />
she screwed Gerad!!!!!!! dying here<br />
<br />
Whoa!<br />
<br />
Gerad?<br />
<br />
He tapped a message back: just landed. what happened?<br />
<br />
The airplane turned, slowed, eased into position near the jetway.<br />
<br />
meet me at screechers. hour?<br />
<br />
Eh, fine. Another beer or two wouldn’t hurt. And it beat going home and ... thinking too much.<br />
<br />
k. cu there<br />
<br />
The
passengers in the row ahead of Donavon stood up, and he did too—rather,
he stood partway, his head bent at an angle to avoid the low ceiling
over his seat.<br />
<br />
An older guy with a paunch wrested his bag from the overhead bin.<br />
<br />
Finally
there was room in the aisle for Donavon to step out and reach his
duffel, and a few minutes later he was striding through the near-empty
airport terminal.<br />
<br />
He remembered the blond, then, but he gave an inner shrug. SU student, most likely. Just like a million others.<br />
<br />
He’d never see her again.<br />
<br />
Screechers
looked its age. Built originally as an Inn, it had never been anything
fancy: a big, no-nonsense block of a structure set perpendicular to the
road. A hundred-plus years of wear and tear had left the building shabby
and humbled, and the quarter acre or so of land around it—long since
paved over—was broken only by an enormous sign in the front of the
building, mounted on two 4x4s of unpainted, treated lumber that were set
in a crumbling concrete footer.<br />
<br />
“Screechers,” the sign read in fading paint, and then below that, in smaller lettering: “Lunch Served Daily.”<br />
<br />
No outsider would be tempted to stop.<br />
<br />
But to the locals from Amesbury, New York, Screechers was as good a gathering spot as any.<br />
<br />
Donavon
left his car next to Jessica’s—he didn’t bother locking it—and climbed
the steps to Screechers’ main entrance, which faced the parking lot and
was framed by a wide porch.<br />
<br />
A couple pairs of splintery
Adirondack chairs served as an outdoor smoking section in the winter,
and an outdoor smoking and drinking section in the summer. They were
empty, tonight.<br />
<br />
He pushed the old wooden door open and
stepped into the bar, a big, dingy room that smelled of pine-scented
cleaner and rancid fryer grease and stale beer.<br />
<br />
He spotted Jessica, sitting alone, still dressed in her work duds: blue jean coveralls and wool knit cap.<br />
<br />
She didn’t speak when he walked up to her. But her face told him everything he needed to know: that she was mightily indignant.<br />
<br />
“Table?” he said as he paid Thomas, the bartender, for his beer, and she nodded.<br />
<br />
They sat down at one of the cheap Formica-topped tables along the wall of the main barroom.<br />
<br />
Donavon took a sip of beer. “Okay. What happened?”<br />
<br />
“I shoulda let you have at her,” said Jessica. She looked at him glumly.<br />
<br />
“Hah,” said Donavon. “I told you. So she really screwed the guy?”<br />
<br />
“Yup.”
The expression of Jessica’s face morphed from gloom to disgust. “An’
now she’s quit, I guess. She came in this morning, went straight to HR,
and gave her notice.” Jessica was drinking a Bud from the bottle. She
set it down now and shrugged out of her jacket. “Damnit, Don, what was
she thinking?”<br />
<br />
“You’re asking me?” Donavon’s smile was
bitter. “I’m a guy, remember? You can’t expect me to understand what the
fuck you women are thinking.” He took another drink. “So what happened,
exactly?”<br />
<br />
Jessica sighed. “Well, you know I kinda took her under my wing—”<br />
<br />
“Yeah,
I know.” Although the metaphor Donavon would have chosen was more along
the lines of Jessica-as-mama-bear. Right after Ellyn was hired, he’d
mounted a charm offensive—and could you blame him? She had quite the
body and he was a single man. But Jessica was having none of it. She
jumped all over him. Told him to back off. Ellyn was fragile, is how
she’d put it. Leave her alone.<br />
<br />
Jessica guessed what he
was thinking. “Hey, you can’t blame me.” She gestured at him, palms up
in a show of innocence. “She was an intern. And she was fragile. And you
weren’t into her for the right reasons.”<br />
<br />
“There’s nothing wrong with having a good time.” He smiled, teasing her.<br />
<br />
Jessica’s eyes narrowed in an expression of pretend accusation. “Don’t give me shit, Donnyboy.”<br />
<br />
“Hey,” Donavon said. “There’s not a lot else to do in Amesbury.”<br />
<br />
“Right.
Anyway, we were out last night after work—me, an’ Kim, an’ Ellyn—and
Ellyn’s been acting really weird lately, so we were asking her what’s
the matter—and then she finally came out with it, man—”<br />
<br />
“That she’d screwed Gerad?”<br />
<br />
Jessica nodded. “I lost it,” she said. “I totally lost my shit, Donnyboy.”<br />
<br />
“Well, I can see why,” said Donavon, although he wasn’t being entirely truthful.<br />
<br />
“I mean, of all people—shit. Anybody else but Ger-fucking-AD.”<br />
<br />
“Maybe she’s a gold-digger.”<br />
<br />
Jessica
checked his face quickly to see if he was joking. “Nah,” she said.
“Seriously. I can’t figure it out. I mean—Donny. The guy’s gross.
Gross.”<br />
<br />
Donavon considered her words a moment, trying
to figure out how women might filter Gerad Picket. As the CEO of RMB—at
least temporarily, since Richard Molnare had ejected from the earthly
coil—Gerad was more or less king of Amesbury. Top dog of the county’s
biggest employer, the biggest suit in a pond too small to hold more than
a handful of suits. And gals like that kind of thing, right? Power’s
the big aphrodisiac ... plus his salary was probably three times the
county average. So what if he was a bit ... dumpy-looking. And that
strip of a moustache over his upper lip, didn’t that look go out of
style with Clark Gable?<br />
<br />
And yet, apparently, gals don’t mind that kind of stuff. Donavon had seen enough to know.<br />
<br />
“Well,” he said. “Maybe the guy’s got a way with the ladies.”<br />
<br />
Jessica
scrunched her nose and shook her head in violent disgust. “No,” she
said. “Trust me on this, Donny. The man is gross. And he’s a sucky
boss.” She looked at Donavon again. “She might have been just an intern,
but she knew he was a sucky boss. She knew. I think that’s one reason
it pissed me off so much. She let me down. She let us all down.”<br />
<br />
The
bar door banged and they looked over and nodded in unison at the
newcomer—Wayne Peters, a local who ran a little auto repair shop out of
his house. A bit of a drunk.<br />
<br />
They sat in silence
another moment while Wayne took a seat at the bar, and Tom emerged from
the kitchen, and Wayne ordered a draft Miller Lite.<br />
<br />
“Anyway,” Jessica said, and sighed, and seemed to lose herself in her thoughts again.<br />
<br />
Donavon sipped his beer.<br />
<br />
The
lights flickered. The wiring at Screechers acted a bit funky at times.
But neither Donavon nor Jessica really noticed, they were used to it.
All of the regulars were, except once in a while someone would joke that
the place was a firetrap.<br />
<br />
“Donny, I lost my shit,”
Jessica started talking again. “I told her it was a violation of RMB
policy for managers to have sex with employees and we’d get his ass
fired, and she—my God, Donny. She was like crying and all ‘no, no, no,
you promised you wouldn’t tell anybody.’ Goddamnit, I just lost my shit.
I told her she was a fucking dumbass and would probably get herpes or
something from that creep. An’ I left.”<br />
<br />
“Harsh,” said Donavon.<br />
<br />
Jessica nodded. “You know me. I was kind of looking after her, Donny! She’s so... ... young.”<br />
<br />
Yeah.
Young. And pretty too—at least a 7. Dark, with a pointed chin and small
high breasts. Yeah. He’d checked her out. Not every day they hired
someone that cute at RMB. But Jessica had told him “no” and he’d held
off ... hah. So old Gerad had—<br />
<br />
He realized that Jessica was watching his face. “Hey,” he said. “She’s cute.”<br />
<br />
She
sighed again, heavily this time. “I should call her up, apologize for
yelling at her. But every time I think about it, I get pissed off again.
An’ you know me.”<br />
<br />
He did. Jessica was not the sort of gal who could be coaxed, easily, out of a temper.<br />
<br />
“So what’s next?”<br />
<br />
“I dunno.” Jessica shook her head. “Do you think I should report it?”<br />
<br />
“Hmmmm.”
Donavon looked at his beer. On the one hand, he was no big fan of
Gerad. The guy was a douche—the sort of executive who thinks that if he
exhorts staff with half-assed platitudes he’s being a visionary leader.
On the other hand, he was a man, and he’d bedded a cute girl. Donavon
couldn’t quite help feeling a bit of solidarity with him on that. Like
he should be on Gerad’s side, kinda.<br />
<br />
Fortunately,
Jessica didn’t really seem interested in Donavon’s opinion. “Maybe I’ll
just go to Ellyn’s and apologize in person for losing my shit like that.
I mean, she says she’s into him—and once you got that situation,
there’s not much anybody can do.”<br />
<br />
“His days at RMB might be numbered anyways,” said Donavon. “Depending on what happens with Richard’s daughter.”<br />
<br />
“Yeah. She’s supposed to be at the plant tomorrow.”<br />
<br />
“Tomorrow? I thought it was next week sometime.”<br />
<br />
“You think she might fire him?” Jessica finished the last of her beer and began picking at the label on the bottle.<br />
<br />
“Depends. If she has more sense than her father, she will.”<br />
<br />
“I never understood why he hired Gerad. Richard was a good guy.”<br />
<br />
“Who
knows? Gerad was supposed to be this hotshot business transformation
guru. Maybe Richard thought he needed to burnish RMB’s management team a
bit. Maybe he was planning to take us public or sell us or something.”<br />
<br />
“Shame he passed like he did.”<br />
<br />
Donavon didn’t answer. Richard Molnare’s death had been sudden, and RMB was a small company. They’d all felt the shock.<br />
<br />
“Well.” Jessica stood up, pulling her jacket from the back of her seat. “Guess I’ll go see if Ellyn’s home.”<br />
<br />
Donavon
couldn’t resist. “If she’s not,” he said, “check Gerad’s.” He grinned
and sure enough, he was rewarded for his teasing. Jessica’s mouth and
nose crinkled immediately in horror.<br />
<br />
“Oh GAWD,” she
said. “Seriously. Gerad? GERad? Of all the people in this town ... I
wouldn’t fuck that disgusting slug of a piece of human crap if he was
the last hard dick on Earth.”<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/darkChemistry.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/darkChemistry.jpg"><img alt="darkChemistry" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41412" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/darkChemistry.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/darkChemistry.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<h1>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A woman's worst nightmare</span></span></h1>
<h2 data-mce-style="color: #cc6600;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Drugged by something...that makes her think she's fallen in love.</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All Haley Dubose has ever known is beaches and malls, clubs and cocktail dresses.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>But now her father is dead.</b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And if she wants to inherit her father's fortune, she has to leave sunny Southern California<br />for a backwater little town near Syracuse, New York. She has to run RMB, the multimillion dollar<br />chemical company her father founded. And she has to run it well.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Keep
RMB on track, and she'll be rich. Grow it, and she'll be even richer.
But mess it up, and her inheritance will shrink away before she gets a
chance to spend a dime.</span></span><br />
<h2 data-mce-style="color: #cc6600;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Donavon Todde is her true love. But is it too late?</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He's RMB's head of sales – and the more Donavon sees of Haley, the more he's smitten.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sure,
she comes across at first as naïve and superficial. But Donavon knew
Haley's father. He can see the man's better qualities stirring to life
in her eyes. And Donavon senses something else: Haley's father left her a
legacy more important than money. He left her the chance to discover
her true self.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Donavon has demons of his own.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> </b><br />He's
reeling from a heartbreak that's taking far too long to heal. But he's
captivated by this blond Californian, and not only because of her
beauty.<i> It's chemistry.</i> They're right for each other. But has
Donavon waited too long to woo this woman of his dreams? Because to his
horror, his beautiful Haley falls under another spell.<i> Gerad's spell.</i></span></span><br />
<h2 data-mce-style="color: #cc6600;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A web of evil.</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gerad
Picket was second-in-command at RMB when Haley's father was alive. And
with Haley on the scene, he's in charge of her training. But there are
things about RMB that Gerad doesn't want Haley to know.</span></span><br />
<h2 data-mce-style="color: #cc6600;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And he must control her. Any way he can.</span></span></h2>
<h1>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Romantic suspense for your Kindle</span></span></h1>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Will Haley realize that her feelings are not her TRUE feelings?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Does Donavon have the strength left to fight for the woman he loves?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Will the two of them uncover Gerad's plot to use RMB pheromones to enslave the world?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And even if they do – can they stop it?</span></span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Chemistry-Kirsten-Mortensen-ebook/dp/B00KEYP3QI/" href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Chemistry-Kirsten-Mortensen-ebook/dp/B00KEYP3QI/" target="_blank">Amazon</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/422146" href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/422146" target="_blank">Smashwords</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Romantic suspense</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG-13</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Kirsten-Mortensen/e/B001JP7X50/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kirsten-Mortensen/e/B001JP7X50/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Kirsten Mortensen through<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kirsten-Mortensen-Writer/195344590544496?ref=hl" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kirsten-Mortensen-Writer/195344590544496?ref=hl" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>& <a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/Kirstenwriter" href="https://twitter.com/Kirstenwriter" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://kirstenmortensen.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy29OlqrTvuWJGs0Xbb3RDK_7VviC8A" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://kirstenmortensen.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy29OlqrTvuWJGs0Xbb3RDK_7VviC8A" target="_blank">http://kirstenmortensen.com/</a></b></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-34243240899200237262014-10-15T08:30:00.000-04:002014-10-15T09:45:09.990-04:00#Excerpt from SCHOOL OF DEATHS by Christopher Mannino @Ctmannino #AmReading #YA #Fantasy“Suzie, my gawd, you look like death.”<br />
<br />
Crystal hadn’t changed. The smiling redhead with large blue glasses and the ever-present smell of cherry bubblegum was her best friend. She was grateful Crystal had spent the summer away. “Did you have a nice summer? How was Colorado?”<br />
<br />
“My summer was great. Colorado’s cold. Geesh, what happened to you, Suzie?”<br />
<br />
“I’ve been sick,” said Suzie. Not a complete lie, obviously something was wrong with her, but she didn’t know what.<br />
<br />
“Sick?” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “You look like you’re dying.”<br />
<br />
“I’ll be fine.”<br />
<br />
“Crystaaal. Suzieee,” shouted a voice from across the parking lot.<br />
<br />
“Oh gawd, it’s Monica,” said Crystal. “Let’s go inside quick.”<br />
<br />
Suzie and her friend started to walk away, but the tall, lanky girl with small eyes caught up to them. Monica. She wasn’t too bad, if you ignored her whiny voice and her inane stories.<br />
<br />
“Hiii guys,” said Monica. “I missed youuu this summer. Did you lose weight? The funniest thing happened the other day…”<br />
<br />
Suzie realized the worst of the day was over. She got teasing looks from the kids and concerned frowns from the teachers, but like Monica, most people were too wrapped up in their own little world to pay any attention to her. Even Crystal eventually stopped asking questions.<br />
<br />
“Tell me again, do you like the way you look?”<br />
<br />
“I’m sorry, what?” she asked.<br />
<br />
Suzie snapped to attention. The day had blurred by, and she was sitting in Dr. Fox’s office, wearing a hospital gown.<br />
<br />
“Suzie, I asked if you like the way you look?”<br />
<br />
Suzie was cold and annoyed. The office smelled of bleach, and the fluorescent light overhead hummed like a dying fly. Dr. Fox glanced up from her notes and smiled a dry, lifeless smile she probably practiced in front of a mirror.<br />
<br />
“No, Doctor.” She repeated the same answers she had given last time, and the time before. “I despise the way I look. I’m a damned skeleton. You can see every bone. I love to eat, I don’t purge, I hardly exercise, and I actually feel fine.”<br />
<br />
“Yes, that’s the strangest part,” interrupted Dr. Fox. “Every test seems to indicate that you’re at the peak of health. No lanugo, no joint issues, no skin problems, and your stomach and the rest of you are actually functioning fine. I’ve almost completely ruled out anorexia, but your weight is still drastically low. It’s like your calories are vanishing into some other dimension.” She laughed. “My husband wishes that would happen with me.”<br />
<br />
“May I get dressed now?”<br />
<br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/School-of-Deaths.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/School-of-Deaths.jpg"><img alt="School of Deaths" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41928" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/School-of-Deaths.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/School-of-Deaths.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
Thirteen-year-old
Suzie Sarnio always believed the Grim Reaper was a fairy tale image of a
skeleton with a scythe. Now, forced to enter the College of Deaths, she
finds herself training to bring souls from the Living World to the
Hereafter. The task is demanding enough, but as the only female in the
all-male College, she quickly becomes a target. Attacked by both
classmates and strangers, Suzie is alone in a world where even her
teachers want her to fail.<br />
<br />
Caught in the middle of a
plot to overthrow the World of Deaths, Suzie must uncover the reason
she’s been brought there: the first female Death in a million years.<br />
<br />
Bu<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">y Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/School-Deaths-Christopher-Mannino-ebook/dp/B00K2GC12M/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" href="http://www.amazon.com/School-Deaths-Christopher-Mannino-ebook/dp/B00K2GC12M/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top">Amazon</a> & <a data-mce-href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/423893" href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/423893">Smashwords</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - YA Fantasy</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Christopher-Mannino/e/B00K2XOP88/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Christopher-Mannino/e/B00K2XOP88/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">Connect</b> with Christopher Mannino through <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/CTMannino" href="https://www.facebook.com/CTMannino">Facebook</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/Ctmannino" href="https://twitter.com/Ctmannino">Twitter</a></span></span><br />
<br /></div>
<center>
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Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-44381926302260776392014-10-10T10:30:00.000-04:002014-10-11T09:19:38.589-04:00#Excerpt from "Across Worlds: Collision" by S. A. Snow @BooksBySnow #AmReading #Erotica #SciFi <div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She
reached behind her and made sure he door was securely locked. The
benefit of the unisex bathroom was that there was almost always a chair
or something for parents to sit on as they waited for children. This
particular bathroom had a long, low wooden bench against one wall.
Perfect.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Her
mind made up, Jane unbuttoned three buttons on her shirt and took her
pants off, draping them neatly over the paper towel dispenser so that
they were easily accessible. She sat down on the bench, jumping when the
cold wood hit her bare ass. She giggled at her nerves and eased back
onto her elbows. There was nothing comfortable about a wooden slab, but
it was long enough to kind of lay down on—if she let her legs hang off
the sides, and it was sturdy enough to hold her, which made it good
enough for her needs.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She
tugged the lace cup of her bra down so that she could rub her fingers
over her nipple. It stiffened and pressed into her palm, aching to be
touched. She pulled on it gently, moaning softly at the burst of desire
that erupted deep within her. She spread her legs farther and let one
hand drift between them, finding wetness there. Stroking herself gently,
her hips rocking against her hand, she found her clit with her middle
finger and pressed against it firmly while rubbing. She tugged her
nipple harder, rubbing it with her fingertips at the same time.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pleasure
speared through her body, and she sighed contentedly. She would feel
better in just a few minutes. Already she could feel tension seeping
from her body as she got closer to orgasm. Anxious to get there, she
slid one finger inside herself, moving it back and forth quickly as she
pressed her palm against her own flesh.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Almost
there. The orgasm built up quickly, and Jane moved her hands harder and
faster. She was almost there. Release was within her grasp.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The knocking on the door was sudden and violent.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Hey! Whoever’s in there, you’ve been in there fifteen minutes!”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Frustrated, Jane moved her fingers faster, trying to finish while she shouted back. “I’ll be out in a minute!”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I’ve got three kids that need to pee and a diaper explosion. I don’t got a minute, lady!”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“There are other bathrooms!” She pinched her nipple, desperately trying to keep going.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Finish the hell up and come out! This is the family bathroom! You got kids in there?”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“No, but—”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“No buts about it. Get your ass out!”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Family friendly my ass,</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Jane
thought as the moment was gone. Her orgasm slipped out of reach yet
again, and she threw her head back against the bench in irritation.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She sat up slowly and reached for her pants, growling, “I’m comin’.”</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/AcrossWorldsCollision.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/AcrossWorldsCollision.jpg"><img alt="AcrossWorldsCollision" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40725" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/AcrossWorldsCollision.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/AcrossWorldsCollision.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jane expected six months undercover to be hard; she expected it to be lonely and bleak. She didn’t expect to find love. <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />Jane
Butler, a CIA operative, is assigned the task of infiltrating the
Xanthians and determining if they’re a threat to humanity. Going
undercover as a Xanthian mate, she boards the transport ship and meets
Usnavi—her new mate. After spending six days traveling through space,
Jane is ecstatic to explore the Xanthian station and soon sets out to
complete her mission. The only problem? Usnavi—and the feelings she is
quickly developing. <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />Fumbling
their way through varying sexual expectations, cooking catastrophes,
and cultural differences, they soon discover life together is never
boring. As Jane and Usnavi careen into a relationship neither of them
expected, Jane uncovers dark secrets about the Xanthians and realizes
she may no longer be safe. When it becomes clear she’s on her own, Jane
is forced to trust and rely on Usnavi. Simultaneously struggling with
her mission, her feelings for Usnavi, and homesickness, Jane faces
questions she never imagined she would have to answer.</span></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Across-Worlds-Collision-S-Snow-ebook/dp/B00MANJM2M" href="http://www.amazon.com/Across-Worlds-Collision-S-Snow-ebook/dp/B00MANJM2M" target="_blank">Amazon</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/435337" href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/435337" target="_blank">Smashwords</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Blended Science Fiction, Erotica</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – NC17</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/S.-A.-Snow/e/B00MARDKL2/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/S.-A.-Snow/e/B00MARDKL2/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with S. A. Snow on <a data-mce-href="http://www.facebook.com/booksbysnow" href="http://www.facebook.com/booksbysnow" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-3494937635026703342014-10-09T12:00:00.000-04:002014-12-18T03:05:49.838-05:00#Excerpt from THE DUNES by Erin Sands @TheDunesBook #AmReading #NonFiction #SelfHelp <div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Dunes</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
the heart of the universe, in a land not so far away, exists a place of
imminent transformation. It is a place undiscovered by most, and sought
out by a daring few, a place where the best and the worst are revealed
without filter, and the quest, though formidable, begets a masterpiece
of the soul. In this place, a war is waged against the stagnant heart
that seeks to cling to what was and cripple new life with old fears. And
so it has been that only the brave in spirit venture upon it, content
to reap its end result as their reward. Thus believing in<i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>change,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>they call this place “The Dunes”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not
for the delicate, The Dunes is a glorious 300-foot-high, 75-degree
incline of soft sand that has been bleached by the blazing sun. At first
glance, it is awe-inspiring. Its beauty is evident, yet uncompromising,
in its call. It is a majestic uphill sand climb resolutely postured as
the menacing hurdle to divine destiny. Yet, still they come to answer
its call. Still they arrive consumed by the desire to be more than they
were when they began, hoping that what lies inside of them is the
fullness of life available beyond The Dunes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our
story begins on a very beautiful and very hot day at The Dunes. It is
105 degrees outside and we find a man and a woman baking in the
afternoon sun. One stands at the top of the 300-foot mound, the other,
at the bottom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The One</b>:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>I love you</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Other</b>:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>And I love you</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The One</b>:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>I want you with me. Take this journey, meet me at the top and trust that everything will be all right.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Other</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>slowly considered the request and believing that their love was heaven sent elected to rise to the challenge. But wait…</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/dunesfinalSB.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/dunesfinalSB.jpg"><img alt="5DmkII_2226" class="aligncenter wp-image-40866" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/5DmkII_2226-198x300.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/5DmkII_2226-198x300.jpg" height="193" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="127" /></a></span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Born
in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in the Bay Area of Northern California,
Erin grew up with an innate love for dance, theatre and the written
word. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University, Erin began her career
in the arts as an actress and choreographer. After booking several
notable roles in television and film, Erin began to use her gift of
writing in blogs featuring political and social commentary, as well as
developing content for theatrical use.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The Dunes,
is a divine departure from Erin’s previous writings it is by far her
most cherished work to date. “I wrote The Dunes initially as self
therapy because I needed to release some painful experiences and
disappointments from my past. I had this thirst to walk in the complete
fullness of life with joy as my constant companion. I had no idea what
effect it would have on other people. But when I saw people read it and
be released from fears that had held them back for years…when I saw
people forgive and be able to walk in the freedom forgiveness
brings…when I saw people commit and serve and how those things opened up
new opportunities in their life, I was just humbled. Humbled by the
awesome power of God and humbled that I had been allowed to go along for
the ride”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When asked<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>why<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>she
writes, Erin pauses and reflects on the truth of her heart. “I write
because although I am only now beginning to truly love the process, I
have always loved the outcome. Like a composer, words become my notes. I
string them together in song eliciting the response of my reader,
grafting a picture of my soul. Where besides the written word can you
effect change so utterly and so succinctly? What besides the written
word can pierce the universal collective mind? Everything begins with a
thought, but it isn’t until that thought is articulated in written word
and those words passed down can life changing movement happen. It must
be written, it must be expressed on tablet, and when it is, we all
become greater, whether the writing be genius or fatuity, it has evoked
thought and debate. Why wouldn’t I want to be apart of that phenomenon?
Why wouldn’t I want to share my story, give my testimony…add my paradigm
to the mix? Whether it is a novel, a poem, an essay or an article, it
is humanity visited. An insight into a new or sometimes shared truth.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>And with that I live my life”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Dune.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Dune.jpg"><img alt="Dune" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40719" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Dune.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Dune.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If there was a journey that could masterfully change your life in seven revelations...would you take it? <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />In
life, sometimes the kernels of wisdom and the richness of revelation
can be found in the most innocent of stories; and so it is with The
Dunes. Join one man and one woman in an exquisitely simple yet
remarkably profound journey as you discover with them that the mountain
you must climb in order to live the abundant life of your dreams is
located squarely within your heart. <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />Illuminated
in seven revelations; The Dunes carries the reader on a journey to not
only examine the obstacles that are holding them back in life but to
conquer and over come them as well. With each revelation The Dunes
intimately calls on the reader as the journey companion to face a
challenge…a dare if you will that requires an uncompromising commitment
to change. In the family of faith-based self help books, The Dunes
stands alone, simultaneously taking the reader from fiction to life and
back again, equipped with a tailor made journal for the readers inner
most secrets and reflections. The Dunes is part allegory, part testimony
and part journal, but the best part is the healing it offers your
heart. When you’re ready to step out of your comfort zone and step into
the miracle of your life…The Dunes awaits. <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />CAUTION:
Readers of this book are subject to significant changes for the better.
Side effects may include frequent smiling and enjoying life in every
season.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Dunes-Release-Fears-Restore-Renew-ebook/dp/B00KO43L2Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1403131233" href="http://www.amazon.com/Dunes-Release-Fears-Restore-Renew-ebook/dp/B00KO43L2Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1403131233" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Non-fiction</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – G</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Erin-Sands/e/B00M5ZWIM6/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Erin-Sands/e/B00M5ZWIM6/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Erin Sands on <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/thedunesbook" href="https://www.facebook.com/thedunesbook" target="_blank">Facebook</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.twitter.com/thedunesbook" href="http://www.twitter.com/thedunesbook" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.thedunesbook.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy29-Z7bqviUDISeSGG7sYWToCfcGIg" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.thedunesbook.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy29-Z7bqviUDISeSGG7sYWToCfcGIg" target="_blank">www.thedunesbook.com</a></b></span></span></div>
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Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-45338356963211810512014-10-09T10:30:00.000-04:002014-11-29T07:47:01.763-05:00Amy Lewis on Changing & Evolving as a Writer @AmyLewisAuthor #AmWriting #AmReading #Memoir <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/ec/cd/e7097384afc40a90048444.L._V336233064_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/ec/cd/e7097384afc40a90048444.L._V336233064_.jpg" height="320" width="263" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where do you get your inspiration from?</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
answer to this question changes and evolves. Lately, I am inspired to
use writing as a creative, spiritual healing act - an inner revolution
of sorts. I do the same thing with dance. The idea is to allow what is
present to come forward and reveal itself. The intention is not to
create something that looks pretty or commercial but to allow what is to
be expressed, loved, healed and celebrated.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing?</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Embarking
on the publicity for my first published book right now, I would
definitely say marketing is the hardest (and also the least fun for me).
I think it’s an age-old dilemma for all artists – the challenge of
putting on a different hat to get out and sell your work. I understand
from the writer friends I know that are good at marketing, they get that
it’s just about letting people get to know you and it’s not at all
about “selling” anything.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you find it hard to share your work?</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve
never found it hard to share my work. I love sharing my work. But
somehow selling my work is a different story. Perhaps I’ve got some
unresolved money issues. I’m sure I do.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you plan to publish more books?</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes. Both non-fiction and fiction. Right now, I’m working on a novel but it’s too new to talk about.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What else do you do to make money, other than write? It is rare today for writers to be full time…</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
have a full-time job as a training manager for a software company. I
actually very much like my job and I have a great deal of autonomy and
work from home but it can be very stressful and busy at times. Finding
time to write is a huge challenge. I know many artist friends who refuse
to get a “real” job and work small jobs to get by so they can focus on
their craft. I’ve always split the fence between secure, mainstream work
and being an artist. I always wanted to have money coming in from
somewhere else, so I could feel free to do whatever I wanted in my
creative life regardless of the commercial viability. The trade off is
that I have a lot less time to do what I love.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you could study any subject at university what would you pick?</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Astrophysics.
I’m not a math/science kind of girl but if could pick my talents that
would be it. The discoveries they are making these days are mind-blowing
and profound. It feels like spiritually and science are finally
converging.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right
now, I’m living exactly where I want to be – New Orleans. But if I was
insanely wealthy and could have three houses, I’d have one in New
Orleans, one somewhere in France and one in Topanga, California.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk?</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
write on a Macbook and also on pen and paper. I actually get a lot of
ideas from my dreams, so I keep paper and pen by my bed at night. I
don’t even bother to turn on the light; I just scribble in the dark and
hope that the next morning I can make it out. Sometimes it’s shocking to
read what I write in the dark; it doesn’t even sound like me.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where do you get support from? Do you have friends in the industry?</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
have tons of creative artist friends of all types – actors, writers,
painters, dancers, musicians, composers. To me, it’s all the same life.
You want to make your living by creating art in a world where everyone
else wants to do the same thing. The intersection of art and business
and how each person traverses that territory is a subject that
fascinates me. Do we have to struggle? Do we have to starve to be good
artists? If we create something just to pay the bills are we still
artists?</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Every writer has their own idea of what a successful career in writing is, what does success in writing look like to you?</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
means having a body of work that I’m proud of. And it means finding an
audience for my work. It does not necessarily mean commercial success
although I would certainly not say no to that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/whatFreedomSmellsLike.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/whatFreedomSmellsLike.jpg"><img alt="whatFreedomSmellsLike" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41176" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/whatFreedomSmellsLike.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/whatFreedomSmellsLike.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<div id="postBodyPS">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Diagnosed
with Borderline Personality disorder, Amy struggled with depression and
an addiction to sharp objects. Even hospitalization didn't help to heal
her destructive tendencies. It took a tumultuous relationship with a
man named Truth to bring her back from the depths of her own self-made
hell.Amy's marriage to dark, intriguing Truth was both passionate and
stormy. She was a fair-skinned southern girl from New Orleans. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He was a
charming black man with tribal tattoos, piercings, and a mysterious
past. They made an unlikely pair, but something clicked. During their
early marriage, they pulled themselves out of abject poverty into wealth
and financial security practically overnight. Then things began to fall
apart.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="postBodyPS">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Passionate
and protective, Truth also proved violent and abusive. Amy’s own
self-destructive tendencies created a powerful symmetry. His sudden
death left Amy with an intense and warring set of emotions: grief for
the loss of the man she loved, relief she was no longer a target for his
aggression.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Conflicted
and grieving, Amy found herself at a spiritual and emotional
crossroads, only to receive help from an unlikely source: Truth himself.
Feeling his otherworldly presence in her dreams, Amy seeks help from a
famous medium.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Her
spiritual encounters change Amy forever. Through Truth, she learns her
soul is eternal and indestructible, a knowledge that gives Amy the
courage to pursue her own dreams and transform herself both physically
and emotionally. Her supernatural encounters help Amy resolve the
internal anger and self-destructive tendencies standing between her and
happiness, culminating in a sense of spiritual fulfillment she never
dreamed possible.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An amazing true story, What Freedom Smells Like is told with courage, honesty, and a devilishly dark sense of humor.</span></span></div>
</div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Freedom-Smells-Like-Memoir-ebook/dp/B00JTHDCSC/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=" href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Freedom-Smells-Like-Memoir-ebook/dp/B00JTHDCSC/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Memoir</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG-13</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Lewis/e/B00KERPYYQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Lewis/e/B00KERPYYQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Amy Lewis through <a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/AmyLewisAuthor" href="https://twitter.com/AmyLewisAuthor" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000; text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.WhatFreedomSmellsLike.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-u-DEq6B2o3ZSLOwj9JWZOYB9gHA" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.WhatFreedomSmellsLike.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-u-DEq6B2o3ZSLOwj9JWZOYB9gHA" target="_blank">www.WhatFreedomSmellsLike.com</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-18922591624115339842014-10-08T11:30:00.000-04:002014-10-08T11:51:35.282-04:00@KimberlyShursen on Having a Huge Support Group & Sharing Her Work #AmWriting #SelfPub #Authors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/37/c2/ddb9364ad12b0ad8976fea.L._V352962290_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/37/c2/ddb9364ad12b0ad8976fea.L._V352962290_.jpg" height="320" width="243" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />How did you develop your writing?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>By
simply reading, listening, and taking in everything that a successful
writer/person shares. I am a student of those who have accomplished what
they’d hoped to achieve.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where do you get your inspiration from?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Everyday stories from everyday people.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you find it hard to share your work? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>I
am very careful about who I share my writing with. They have to be
someone I trust who I know doesn’t want to re-write my work in their
words, but offer suggestions if they feel something either needs to be
clarified, or needs more explanation.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is your family supportive? Do your friends support you?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Yes. I am extremely lucky in that I have a huge support group. Many of my supporters I didn’t know until they read my book(s.)</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you plan to publish more books? <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>The stories I have in my head will go to the grave with me; there simply isn’t enough time.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> What other jobs have you had in your life?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>I
graduated from college with a BA in education, but most of my careers
have been in marketing. From real estate agent, to property manager, to
the director of marketing for a post-acute, long-term care center;
corporate life was never my forte. I achieve much more when I’m left
alone. Don’t we all?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you could study any subject at university what would you pick?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Law. When I wrote<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>HUSH</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>was
when I realized how much I had always wanted to be a lawyer. However, I
would never want to be a lawyer because of money, but to fight for the
poverty stricken; the elderly; the children who have no one to represent
them. I can’t imagine not using a law degree for the good of society.
What University would I pick? Any that would take me.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tell us about your family?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>I
am a widow, so my handsome, bright sons are the cornerstone of my life.
After my husband passed from cancer was when I moved from Minneapolis
to the Midwest to take care of my aging mother.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Everywhere.
It depends on my mood. In the winter months when it’s below zero, I
bring the computer into my bedroom. If it’s 75-80 degrees outside, you
might find me with my laptop on my deck.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Where do you get support from? Do you have friends in the industry?<b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I
have a ton of friends in the industry. Many I interviewed when I was
first started my website. My friends live all over the world; Italy,
Germany, the UK. I don’t ever want to lose even one of them.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge and thank for their support?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Katie
French, who is an excellent author, and I have been beta readers for
each other’s books for three years. My books are enhanced by Katie’s
input. We are brutally honest with each other, and that’s what we both
want.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/hush.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/hush.jpg"><img alt="hush" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41080" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/hush.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/hush.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soon
after Ann Ferguson and Ben Grable marry, and Ben unseals his adoption
papers, their perfect life together is torn apart, sending the couple to
opposite sides of the courtroom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Representing
Ann, lawyer Michael J. McConaughey (Mac) feels this is the case that
could have far-reaching, judicial effects -- the one he's been waiting
for.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Opposing counsel knows this high profile case happens just once in a lifetime.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />And
when the silent protest known as HUSH sweeps the nation, making
international news, the CEO of one of the top ten pharmaceutical
companies in the world plots to derail the trial that could cost his
company billions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Critically
acclaimed literary thriller HUSH not only questions one of the most
controversial laws that has divided the nation for over four decades,
but captures a story of the far-reaching ties of family that surpasses
time and distance.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>***
Hush does not have political or religious content. The story is built
around the emotions and thoughts of two people who differ in their
beliefs.</b></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> </b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">EDITORIAL
REVIEW: "Suspenseful and well-researched, this action-packed legal
thriller will take readers on a journey through the trials and
tribulations of one of the most controversial subjects in society
today."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Katie French author of "The Breeders," "The Believer's," and "Eyes Ever To The Sky."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Hush-Kimberly-Shursen-ebook/dp/B00HZKBGW4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1404820465&sr=1-1&keywords=hush+and+kimberly+shursen" href="http://www.amazon.com/Hush-Kimberly-Shursen-ebook/dp/B00HZKBGW4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1404820465&sr=1-1&keywords=hush+and+kimberly+shursen" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Thriller</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG-13</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Shursen/e/B00C7ZBTIS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Shursen/e/B00C7ZBTIS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Kimberly Shursen through <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kimberly-Shursen-Author/286879094678995" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kimberly-Shursen-Author/286879094678995" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/kimberlyShursen" href="https://twitter.com/kimberlyShursen" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.kimberlyshursen.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-uex70LjIEkr9CbwWbuB4zDHIOKw" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.kimberlyshursen.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-uex70LjIEkr9CbwWbuB4zDHIOKw" target="_blank">http://www.kimberlyshursen.com/</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-82278063720738498342014-10-07T09:00:00.000-04:002014-10-07T13:12:40.519-04:00LICHGATES (Grimoire Saga) - Book 1 by S.M. Boyce @TheSMBoyce #AmReading #Excerpt #Fantasy<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
woman’s grip tightened. “Braeden Drakonin, listen closely to me. I am
not fond of your father. Had you not defied him in his own court, we
would have left you. But mark me, yakona. If you betray our trust, death
will become a mercy before I am done with you.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I get that a lot. But yes, I understand.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She
released him. Her blade disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. She
grimaced at him as if she smelled something foul, but snapped her
fingers. His shackles fell to the ground.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He
grabbed his wrists and sank to the mossy grass in relief, too exhausted
to thank her or to wonder how she’d done it. The black pools of his
wounds knit themselves together, but the process was slow. They
congealed and bubbled, the poison resisting his body as it mended
itself. His half-healed jaw grafted, but the internal sting of broken
veins persisted. Muscles wove themselves back together.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bones
popped as they finally slid back into place. The poison continued to
circulate as his body tried to heal around it, and it would be hours
before no scars remained. Even then, the internal tremors would
continue.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He
examined the shifter-woman. Her pale blond hair fell to her waist,
where it rolled out in small curls. Patches of copper in her tan skin
glistened in the sun. Her piercing blue eyes crinkled in an expression
of annoyance.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“You two are drenowith. Muses,” he said.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yes.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I thought you were just myths.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“As we prefer. I’m Adele, and this is Garrett.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She
gestured toward the other muse. He had rusty hair, the color of embers
in a fire, but his skin was the same coppery shade as Adele’s.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Garrett released his grip on Kara’s shoulder. She ran to Braeden and knelt beside him.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Are you okay?” she asked.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Fine,” he said. “Thank you.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kara turned to Adele. “How did you undo his shackles? I thought only the person who put them on could take them off.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“We are above yakona laws, young Vagabond.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Well, thank you for saving us, then.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“The first Vagabond was our friend, to whom we owed a debt. It’s now paid. What is your name?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Kara. So you’re muses, huh? All the letter said about you is that you’re shape-shifters. Can you become anything?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Anything we imagine,” Garret said.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Braeden tried to avoid looking at the muse he’d been ordered to kill.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kara shook her head. “This is insane. So, you knew the Vagabond and you obviously don’t age. Are you immortal?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Not immortal,” Adele corrected. “While we don’t grow old, we can die. Everything is mortal, even Earth.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/lichgates.jpg" /></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>“The
writing is flawless. The kingdoms and surrounding landscapes
breathtaking. The Grimoire is a piece of imaginative genius that
bedazzles from the moment Kara falls into the land of Ourea. – Nikki
Jefford, author of the Spellbound Trilogy</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Spring 2013 Rankings</b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">#6 Kindle Store | #1 Science Fiction & Fantasy | #1 Epic Fantasy | #1 Sword & Sorcery | #1 Teens</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now an international Amazon bestseller. Fans of <i>The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, </i>and <i>Eragon</i> will enjoy this contemporary remix of the classic epic fantasy genre.</span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—————-</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kara Magari is about to discover a beautiful world full of terrifying things: Ourea.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kara,
a college student still reeling from her mother’s recent death, has no
idea the hidden world of Ourea even exists until a freak storm traps her
in a sunken library. With nothing to do, she opens an ancient book of
magic called the Grimoire and unwittingly becomes its master, which
means Kara now wields the cursed book’s untamed power. Discovered by
Ourea’s royalty, she becomes an unwilling pawn in a generations-old
conflict – a war intensified by her arrival. In this world of chilling
creatures and betrayal, Kara shouldn’t trust anyone… but she’s being
hunted and can’t survive on her own. She drops her guard when Braeden, a
native soldier with a dark secret, vows to keep her safe. And though
she doesn’t know it, her growing attraction to him may just be her
undoing.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For
twelve years, Braeden Drakonin has lived a lie. The Grimoire is his one
chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes
into his life. Though he begins to care for this human girl, there is
something he wants more. He wants the Grimoire.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Welcome to Ourea, where only the cunning survive.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">—————-</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Novels in the Grimoire Saga:</b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Lichgates </i>(#1)</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Treason </i>(#2)</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Heritage </i>(#3) – Available Fall 2013</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Illusion </i>(#4) – Available Fall 2014</span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lichgates-Grimoire-Trilogy-paranormal-ebook/dp/B005W5L38G/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a> & <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/206728" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Smashwords</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Fantasy</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG13</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/S.M.-Boyce/e/B005WL2N8O" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <b>Connect</b> with SM Boyce on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thesmboyce" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/thesmboyce" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Twitter</a> & <a href="http://pinterest.com/thesmboyce/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-73675558239696516302014-10-07T08:00:00.000-04:002014-12-17T05:24:35.905-05:00Writing that Relies on Perception & More with PM Pillon @PMPillon #AmWriting #SciFi #Fantasy <div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">Our
writing relies on our perceptions, leading us down a bright or dark
path if that’s how we see the world but and are infinite in variety. For
instance in Dostoyevsky’s case appreciating and writing about appalling
privation because he himself experienced it as a starving writer and
Solzhenitsyn also as a state prisoner. Who can fail to be moved by the
young man’s utter destitution in Crime And Punishment, or the Gulag
convict fussing over his boots without which he would be a dead man
walking?</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;" /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">However,
there are also cases of a writer’s life being a stark contrast from her
or his writing, such as Guy de Maupassant who wrote beautifully and
auspiciously even as he lived a life of depression and ultimately wrote
as his epitaph: “I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in
nothing.” </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;" /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">We
are a sum of our parts and at the same time we are a continuum,
experiencing myriad states of life most often without even realizing it,
with all aspects such as memories morphing into differing levels of
appreciation. We forget most events and remember only a fraction, and we
sometimes wish the two would transpose and we could forget that
pedestrian remark dad made and instead remember something he said about
mom when she was ill. If every single memory is still somewhere in our
brain, until and unless a method for total recall is discovered we are
forced to play with the cards we’re dealt; trudging through life with
limited recollections that we can mine for our writing. A week ago I had
a dream that I recognized as being a basis for a entire book as my
previous books have been, but within seconds I forgot it and it’s
clearly gone for good.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;" /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">If
we’re writing about a man whose girl friend has left him or vice versa,
it helps to have some memories under our belt about amorous
relationships. Writing blind about events with which we have no
experience can still work if we have learned about them from observation
or stories we heard from others, but it’s more problematic because more
care must be taken to attain plausibility.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;" /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">And
ultimately our writing style will likely be the decider, such as the
case of William Faulkner who gave up trying to mimic or emulate others
and just wrote in his own consciousness stream and prose based on his
experiences that eventually earned him universal praise and a Nobel
Prize for Literature.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TheRealityMaster.jpg" /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div id="outer_postBodyPS" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: center;">
<div id="postBodyPS">
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">His celestial companion was waiting for him</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Precariously
climbing a sea-side cliff near Big Sur, ten-year-old Joey Blake was as
yet unaware that near his grasp was an object, so odd, mysterious and
alien to earth that it would change his life forever and the lives of
countless others in the next few astonishing days. Reaching up as far as
he could for a handhold it was just there; it had subconsciously lured
him, occupied his mind, and made him find it. It was like he was meant
to see and discover this object of unimaginable power … the power to
change reality.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Time travel and more</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This
young adult series of sci-fi fantasy novels begins with The Reality
Master and continues through four other exciting and amazing stories
about time travel and mysterious alien devices. Joey and the reader will
face dangerous shadowy criminal organizations, agents of the NSA,
bizarre travelers from other times and even renegade California bikers
and scar-faced walking dead.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 1 The Reality Master</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 2 Threat To The World</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 3 Travel Beyond</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 4 Missions Through Time</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 5 The Return Home</span></span></b></div>
</div>
</div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Reality-Master-PM-Pillon-ebook/dp/B00GTWX4CO" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Science fiction, Fantasy, Young adult</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – G</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/PM-Pillon/e/B00ASAMQVI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with PM Pillon on <a href="https://facebook.com/pmpillon" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/pmpillon" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-4715240324624599402014-10-04T11:30:00.000-04:002014-10-04T11:30:00.975-04:00What You Didn't Know About @TheKariNichols #AmReading #Fantasy #Historical<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;"> 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Kari Nichols</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My name is Kari Nichols, and here are ten think about me that you probably didn’t know!</span></span></div>
<ol style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I’m a massive sports fan.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even
though I spend the majority of my time reading, writing, taking photos,
and creating art, I absolutely love sports. Whether it’s NFL, NBA, NHL,
or the Olympics, I’m a huge fan. My favorite sports to watch are NFL
and NBA. And I’m actually in a fantasy football league with my husband
every fall!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I was homeschooled for ten years.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>From
first grade all the way through tenth grade, I was a homeschooler. Now,
I wasn’t the kind of homeschooler that has zero social interactions and
can’t function in society. My parents were very proactive about getting
us involved in lots of activities. We were a part of a co-op, an
athletic league, and various groups to make sure we were exposed to all
kinds of social interactions.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I’ve traveled to sixteen countries.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Traveling
is one of my passions, and I have a list of about two hundred places I
desperately want to visit over the course of my life. My favorite
countries so far are Italy, France, Ireland, Swaziland and Thailand.
Hopefully I’ll be able to add more countries to my list soon!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I’m obsessed with lists.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It’s
a little over-the-top at times. I’m so addicted to crossing things off
my to-do list that sometimes, at the end of the day, I’ll make a list of
all the things I’ve done that day just so I can cross them off. Yeah.
Obsessed.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I can read a good book six or eight times.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I
don’t know what to tell you, but if I really enjoy the book, I’ll read
it over and over again until I’m sick of it. I think I’ve read Catch-22
four times, and it never gets old. I’m currently reading the Vampire
Academy series by Richelle Mead for the fifth time. It’s just that good.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I grew up in the South and have worked very hard to get rid of my southern accent.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>You
can still hear it when I say certain words, but I try my hardest to
speak without an accent. I love to imitate other accents (and was
recently told by a man from London that my British accent was better
than his best friend’s!). But in everyday life, I try to keep the
accents to a minimum.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I’m a professional wedding photographer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>My husband and I opened Cottonwood Studios in 2007 and have photographed over one hundred fifty weddings since.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I’m the youngest of three sisters.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>This
means I grew up with an actual mother and two sisters who also acted
like mothers. We’re all great friends now, but let’s just say I had
authority issues for a large part of my life. It’s a wonder that I work
for myself now …</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I love love love scavenger hunts.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The greatest gifts I’ve ever received were gifts I had to find using clues. I don’t know why, but adore them.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">I have two tattoos.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I
have a tattoo of orchids on my right shoulder blade and one of swallows
flying on my right collar bone. And I have plans for many, many more.</span></span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rogue.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rogue.jpg"><img alt="rogue" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41803" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rogue.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/rogue.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
“We stand united, Family of Immortals. Plagued by life. Cursed by the hand of God …” <br />
<br />
Rogue
was born into an immortal family whose wealth is marked by a trail of
blood. But when he meets the unnervingly familiar assistant of his next
target, an unexpected rush of emotions begins to unravel his carefully
laid plans. <br />
<br />
Lissie lives a mundane life filled with
work … and little else. She hasn’t taken a risk since she moved to New
York City after college—seven years ago. But when the mysterious Matthew
McCloud walks through the door of her office, she finds herself diving
head-first into a whirlwind romance she never saw coming.<br />
<br />
Buy N<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ow @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Rogue-The-Plagued-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00MRO73PM" href="http://www.amazon.com/Rogue-The-Plagued-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00MRO73PM">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - Urban Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG-13</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Kari-Nichols/e/B00MSDYFFS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kari-Nichols/e/B00MSDYFFS/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">Connect</b> with Kari Nichols on <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/TheKariNichols" href="https://www.facebook.com/TheKariNichols" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/thekarinichols" href="https://twitter.com/thekarinichols" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-weight: bold ! important;">Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://karinichols.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy28HIGv7lmiQgoz5heNUjD3hpL5yEA" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://karinichols.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy28HIGv7lmiQgoz5heNUjD3hpL5yEA" target="_blank">http://karinichols.com/</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-74475054957659949812014-10-01T08:30:00.000-04:002014-11-12T03:20:53.469-05:00Five Rules for Beginning Writers with Kate Bracy #WriteTip #AmWriting #WomensFic<b>Five Rules for Beginning Writers</b><br />
<br />
If you are
serious about writing – or anything else – you will at some point be
asked to meet ridiculously ambitious deadlines. Here are five helpful
rules that can keep you sane, yet productive, in the face of
intimidating time targets.<br />
<br />
<b>Be honest. </b> Tell the
truth to yourself and your editor about what you can and cannot do.
This is a gift to everyone. Let’s say your agent asks for the last five
chapters by the end of the summer, and you are getting married in
August. Do your marriage a favor and say, “I’m planning a wedding. I
can get them to you by the end of September, but not by Labor Day.”
Presumably, your agent will then tell you why that date was so
important, and you can decide whether to cancel the wedding or the
chapters. But making promises that you know you can’t keep is never
good, and you’ll get a reputation for standing people up – either at the
presses or at the altar.<br />
<b><br />Next, anticipate. </b>Walk a
project back and figure out exactly how much you have to write every
day/week/etc. in order to meet the deadline. If you are writing a
chapter for a medical text, and it is due in four months, figure out a
writing schedule that gets you in well under the wire and then stick to
it. I did this sort of math/planning for a book on Menopause that I
wrote, and it saved my life. I was able to meet some pretty brutal
deadlines writing only on my weekends. (I don’t recommend a demanding
timeline that steals all your weekends, but it can be done.) Even if
you’re the sort of person who thrives on the pressure of a deadline, let
the little deadlines pressure you. That way, when you are in the home
stretch, you will only procrastinate on the last few pages instead of
the whole darn chapter – which results in much better writing and no
ulcer.<br />
<b><br />Third, communicate. </b>Stay in touch with your
editor, agent or whoever is requesting the work. It keeps you on track,
and helps reassure them and set the expectations as things go along.
Building your relationship with them and establishing your reliability
is based on trust. Keep them in the loop.<br />
<b><br />Fourth, admit what is impossible.</b>
If a writing assignment is too much for you, don’t take it. You will
have many chances to write and to create work that you can be proud of.
If something sounds like a big break, but you know it’s impossible,
don’t put yourself – or your reputation – at risk by promising more than
you can deliver. I quit a gig writing as a guide for About.com. I
couldn’t meet their deadlines and do the writing I wanted, so I let it
go – even though it paid pretty well. I hope someone else is rocking
that assignment, but if I had kept doing that I wouldn’t have been able
to write my novel. When you are in it for the long run, don’t make
short-run crazy-making decisions.<br />
<b><br />Finally, quality matters most. </b>
If you know you can improve a piece exponentially by having it another
couple of days, talk to your editor. Even if you have to send the
lesser version in, ask for an extension if you know you want it to be
better and can do it. Your text and your byline will be “out there” and
available for a long time. Others will be looking at it to judge your
credibility and maybe to hire you/sign you for other things. Make sure
it is your best work. Chances are, your editor wants that, too.<br />
<br />
Once
in a while, you may mis-guess how long a project will take. But some
careful attention to deadlines – well in advance – will save your sanity
and their bottom line. Don’t be too hard on yourself – you may
overshoot now and then.<br />
<br />
But mostly you won’t.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ThatCrazyLittleThing.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ThatCrazyLittleThing.jpg"><img alt="ThatCrazyLittleThing" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41620" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ThatCrazyLittleThing.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/ThatCrazyLittleThing.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Winner
of four independent publishing awards, including the IndieReader
Discovery Award in Women's Fiction, this debut novel hits the mark for
smart, discerning readers. </i><br /><br />There's nothing about
her life that doesn't need a little work, so Melanie Davis thinks of
herself as a "fixer-upper." Her history with men leaves her gun shy; her
teenaged daughter can't string two civil words together; her best
friend Donna just found out she has a life-threatening illness. When
Donna also reveals a decades-old secret that still haunts her, Melanie
makes it her mission to solve the mystery and reunite Donna with a
precious link to her past - before it's too late. <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />Along
the way Melanie discovers with startling clarity the pricelessness of
love and friendship. With a finely-tuned emotional compass, Kate Bracy
carries us through a trial-by-illness as funny as it is touching. Her
narrator, Melanie, comes to realize the enduring power of love - between
men and women, between mothers and daughters, between friends. Through
her vivid, endearing characters Bracy creates a small-town world in
northern New York where old loves rekindle, friendships prevail, and
secret wounds are finally healed. This debut novel will leave you with
an awakened heart and a strong urge to send postcards to all the people
you love.</span></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/That-Crazy-Little-Thing-Bracy-ebook/dp/B00D5VIH42" href="http://www.amazon.com/That-Crazy-Little-Thing-Bracy-ebook/dp/B00D5VIH42">Amazon</a> & <a data-mce-href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/322457" href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/322457">Smashwords</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - Women's Fiction</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG-13</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Bracy/e/B001JP4344/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Bracy/e/B001JP4344/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Kate Bracy through <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/Bracy.Author" href="https://www.facebook.com/Bracy.Author">Facebook</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.katebracy.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2_tSAQ9Ttq5F6Gz55ZWMIgvRHoJRw" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.katebracy.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2_tSAQ9Ttq5F6Gz55ZWMIgvRHoJRw" target="_blank">http://www.katebracy.com/</a></b></span></span></div>
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Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-20295467459125311562014-09-24T11:30:00.000-04:002014-09-24T11:30:02.405-04:00Craig Staufenberg on Lowering Your Expectations as a Writer @YouMakeArtDumb #WriteTip #AmWriting<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>10 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer</b><br /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Become a better person.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Writing
is truth serum. All your biases come out. All your good points and your
bad points. You can’t always see your personal warts in your own
writing, but other people are likely to. Sometimes clearly—they’ll know
exactly what’s messed up about your perspective on the world. Other
times your readers just feel like something’s off without being able to
put their finger on it. But in both cases, unless they share your exact
biases, your readers will see any ugliness in your heart that you’ve
spilled out on the page. So try and work on being fair and kind to
people within your own heart before you start opening it up.<br /><br /><b>Live a better life.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Your
inspirations, your reference points, and your obsessions all have to
come from your lived, direct experience. Or, second best, the lived,
direct experiences of someone you know personally. Otherwise you’re
drawing from some other writer’s interpretations. And that’s a photocopy
of a photocopy, at best.<br /><br /><b>Lower your expectations.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It’ll
make you happier in general. It’ll also make you happier about your
work. It’s hard to like your book if you expect it to sell 100,000
copies and it sells 100. When you set high expectations you’re giving
your book more work to do. Suddenly your book needs to make you a lot of
money, and get you a lot of awards and prestige, and attract amazing
partners of your preferred sex, and all that external nonsense. And all
that baggage you’ve attached to the book will change your writing.
You’ll write a different book if it needs to pay your rent than if
you’re just writing from your heart. Your book only has one goal, and
that’s to connect with your heart. That’s the only expectation you
should set. That it’ll connect.<br /><br /><b>Learn some of the technical aspects of writing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Not
necessary, but it helps. Your writing just needs to communicate
clearly. If it already does, than you’re golden. If not, then brush up a
little bit on how to write effectively. You may have a few “bad habits”
that bog you down. But don’t clean up your writing too much—you want to
keep your voice.<br /><br /><b>Write a lot.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Now,
the definition of “a lot” varies from person to person. Some people are
such natural communicators they can write well without a lot of
practice. Some people are just so interesting, or have such a gripping
story to tell, that their book could be scrawled illegibly on cocktail
napkins and you’d be glued to your seat reading it. But for the rest of
us, writing lots will give you a good sense of your voice, and your
thoughts. Most importantly, it will keep you from feeling scared about
writing. In my early freelance days I wrote 10,000-20,000 words a day.
It wasn’t great writing, but I put it down day after day. And I haven’t
been scared of writing since then.<br /><br /><br /><b>Share your writing with other people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Friends
can be helpful. Especially friends who are successful enough creative
pros that they won’t feel threatened by you and your work. In that vein I
don’t recommend sharing with friends who wanted to be writers, or who
sort of fancy themselves writers but don’t really make anything. Those
people will have a hard time getting over their internal bullshit to
help you out. And any feedback they offer will come from a theoretical
place that is totally unhelpful. You’ll get your best feedback from
absolute strangers. I hire strangers off Task Rabbit to read my books
and give me honest feedback. It’s an indispensible part of my process.<br /><br /><b>Listen to what they say.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>If
a lot of people say the same thing about your book, then they’re right.
Especially if those people have no contact with each other or each
other’s opinions. Public reviewers are often influenced by each other.
And people who read reviews often parrot the language or tone of the
reviews they read. But strangers in isolation give feedback from a
genuine place. Listen to them. They won’t always offer helpful
suggestions on how to fix your work. But they can tell you where it
hurts.<br /><br /><b>Solve your personal problems outside of work.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>This
is another way of saying what I explained in number two. But it’s
important enough to drive home. Writing isn’t going to fix your life
problems. Don’t burden your writing with the need to solve your
problems. And writing isn’t therapy. When you write from your heart, you
will naturally go through emotional experiences that can be
challenging, and you may even find clarity and peace with some aspects
of your life. But there’s a big difference between writing honestly from
your heart, and treating your manuscript like a therapist’s couch.<br /><br /><b>Don’t try and model yourself on anyone else, especially on any other writer.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>This
one relates to number two up there. You live a better life so you have
real, direct experiences to pull from. Otherwise you’re pulling from
other writers. But there are two other warnings in here. First, don’t
try and replicate another writer’s process and expect it to work for
you. Feel free to grab elements as you tinker with your own process, but
copying Kafka’s writing process won’t make you write like Kafka.
Second, if you hold writers up to a pedestal you’ll never become one.
“Becoming a writer” will always be this lofty dream out of reach. Even
worse, when you worship authors you never get to clearly evaluate if you
even want to actually become one in the first place. You might not. I’m
still on the fence.<b> </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Relax.</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You’re not fighting a war here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Girl-Who-Came-Back-to-Life.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Girl-Who-Came-Back-to-Life.jpg"><img alt="The Girl Who Came Back to Life" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-40597" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Girl-Who-Came-Back-to-Life.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Girl-Who-Came-Back-to-Life.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When
you die, your spirit wakes in the north, in the City of the Dead.
There, you wander the cold until one of your living loved ones finds
you, says "Goodbye," and Sends you to the next world. <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />After
her parents die, 12-year-old Sophie refuses to release their spirits.
Instead, she resolves to travel to the City of the Dead to bring her
mother and father’s spirits back home with her. <br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" /><br data-mce-style="color: #000000;" />Taking
the long pilgrimage north with her gruff &amp; distant grandmother—by
train, by foot, by boat; over ruined mountains and plains and
oceans—Sophie struggles to return what death stole from her. Yet the
journey offers her many hard, unexpected lessons—what to hold on to,
when to let go, and who she must truly bring back to life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Came-Back-Life-ebook/dp/B00JQRR0JM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402517344&sr=8-1&keywords=craig+staufenberg" href="http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Who-Came-Back-Life-ebook/dp/B00JQRR0JM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402517344&sr=8-1&keywords=craig+staufenberg" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Middle Grade</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG-13</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Craig-Staufenberg/e/B00J4CHMX8/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Craig-Staufenberg/e/B00J4CHMX8/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>with Craig Staufenberg through<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/YouMakeArtDumb?ref=hl" href="https://www.facebook.com/YouMakeArtDumb?ref=hl" target="_blank">Facebook</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/YouMakeArtDumb" href="https://twitter.com/YouMakeArtDumb" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://craigstaufenberg.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-DrQ3iDj9YlxIz66ffrjCdBEDC8Q" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://craigstaufenberg.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-DrQ3iDj9YlxIz66ffrjCdBEDC8Q" target="_blank">http://craigstaufenberg.com/</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-35342097462979955622014-09-20T10:30:00.000-04:002014-12-30T03:00:08.434-05:00Pendelton Wallace on Books He Loved When He Was Growing Up #AmWriting #AmReading #Thriller<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What writing are you most proud of? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I think that I am growing and improving as a writer with everything I write. I think that <i>Hacker for Hire</i> is my best work yet, but I’m the most proud of <i>Blue Water & Me, Tall Tales of Adventures With My Father.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Blue Water</i> is a tribute to my father and it may not be as polished as my later works, but it will probably always be my favorite.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What are you most proud of in your personal life? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My daughters. They have grown into fine young women. They are strong, brave and independent, just like their mother.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What books did you love growing up? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Mars series, Tarzan of the Apes. Much of my writing today is influenced by his style.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I also loved Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Who is your favorite author? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Larry
McMurtry. He is fantastic. I think Gus McRae is the greatest single
character in American Literature. I envy Larrty’s ability and only wish
I could write like him.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What book genre of books do you adore? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My
favorites are thrillers. However, I love good historical fiction as
well. The Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brien and the Sharpe series
by Bernard Cornwell are my favorites.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What book should everybody read at least once? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lonesome Dove. It’s my absolute favorite.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Is there any book you really don’t enjoy? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hate to be a wet blanket and I don’t want to disparage any other authors, but I really didn’t enjoy <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i>. The story just didn’t interest me. I couldn’t understand why she would willingly submit herself to such abuse.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What do you hope your obituary will say about you? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s tough. How about that he entertained a lot of people? That he influenced a lot of peoples’ lives.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Location and life experiences can really influence writing, tell us where you grew up and </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>where you now live? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
was born on San Juan Island in Washington State, just a few hundred
yards from the Canadian border. I spent a few years in Southern
California, then we moved to Oregon. I grew up in the Eugene/Springfield
area of the Willamette Valley.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
moved to Seattle when I was 27. I now live on my boat. We are currently
in La Paz, Mexico, but will be returning to San Diego shortly. Where
will we go after that? Maybe Panama. Maybe the US Virgin Islands.
Perhaps the Florida Keys. I really don’t know yet.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How did you develop your writing? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By
making every mistake in the book. I knew instinctively that I was a
literary genius. I sat down and started writing. When I had finished my
masterpiece, I hired a good editor, just on the off-chance that I missed
something.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She
tore me to pieces. Actually, she tore my book to pieces. After I nursed
my wounds and got over the sting, I cut more than a hundred pages from
my manuscript and started over. Her second pass through the manuscript
was a much more pleasant process.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
also joined a writers group. It took me several tries to find the right
group, but eventually I ended up with a group of writers who were
better than me. By working with them every other week, I gradually
improved my writing.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Where do you get your inspiration from? </b></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The headlines. Read the newspaper. I could never make up stories as bizarre as I see in the news every day.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/hacker.jpg" /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If Clive Cussler had written Ugly Betty, it would be Hacker for Hire. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hacker for Hire, a suspense novel
about corporate greed and industrial espionage, is the second book in a
series about Latino computer security analyst Ted Higuera and his best
friend, para-legal Chris Hardwick. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The goofy, off-beat Ted Higuera, son
of Mexican immigrants, grew up in East LA. An unlikely football
scholarship brought him to Seattle. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chris, Ted’s college roommate, grew
up with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father is the head of one of
Seattle’s most prestigious law firms. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ted’s first job out of college leads
him into the world of organized crime where he faces a brutal beating.
After being rescued by beautiful private investigator Catrina Flaherty,
Ted decides to go to work for her. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Catrina is hired by a large computer
corporation to find a leak in their corporate boardroom when the
previous consultant is found floating in Elliot Bay. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ted discovers that Chris’s firm has
been retained by their prime suspect. Now he and Chris are working
opposite sides of the same case. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ted and Catrina are led deep into
Seattle’s Hi-Tech world as they stalk the killer. But the killer is also
hunting them. Can Ted find the killer before the killer finds him? </span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hacker-Hire-Ted-Higuera-Book-ebook/dp/B00KH3Z53W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1405401192&sr=1-1&keywords=Hacker+for+Hire" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Mystery, Thriller</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – R</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Pendelton%20Wallace&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Pendelton Wallace on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/penn.wallace" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.pennwallace.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-lvi4hquGvTx3TTco7IMaVQe7wYA" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.pennwallace.com</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-90366139034021187932014-09-18T11:00:00.000-04:002014-11-06T13:28:25.776-05:00What You Didn't Know About Saga of the Nine: #Area38 by Mikey DB @mikeydbii #Thriller #AmReading<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Ten things you didn’t know about<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Saga of the Nine: Area 38</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1) It was originally going to be a musical. The album that inspired it,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>This is War</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>by
30 Seconds to Mars, was intended not only as the frame work of the
story, but the bulk of the songs as well. I thought about seeking out
Jared Leto’s help/permission to use his music and possibly add more, but
things ended up turning a different direction. It really came down to
the fact that I didn’t think a musical would do the story justice. I
still listened to the album probably a couple hundred times while
writing it, but the story is much different now than the original
musical.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2)
Mica and the USA Division were inspired by a date I took a girl on. My
date and I doubled with my roommate and his date, each got some
masquerade masks, and then went to dinner at a fancy restaurant while we
wore them. Like I said, bizarre, but hey, something worked because my
date that night is now my wife.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3) Area 38 is actually a reference to the 38<sup>th</sup><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>state of the United States of America.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4)
The opening setting was inspired by the cold winter mornings in Utah.
I’ve been working the six am shift for as long as I can remember, and
one of the joys about having to wake up so early in order to get to work
on time, is it’s around the time that the sun rises. The fog that
covered the fields outside the industrial park were some of the most
beautiful mornings I’ve seen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5) Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor who played Sherlock Holmes in BBC’s<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Sherlock</i>,
is the person I pictured as I wrote and fine tuned Christopher Stone,
the sadistic Area Leader of Area 38. If he reads this, I hope he
doesn’t get offended. The way he talks in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Star Trek: Into Darkness<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>as Kahn is exactly how I imagine Christopher saying his lines.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6)
I wrote the entire novel on the floor of my 500 square foot
apartment--right at the foot of my bed. I could only right for a few
hours at a time though. Any longer than three and my butt and legs
would begin to go numb.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">7)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Saga of the Nine: Area 38<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>is
actually a hybrid. The entire plot began as two different stories.
Both of them were going nowhere, and one day I had the epiphany to
combine the two.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">8) Most, if not all, of my research for<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Area 38<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>came from listening to history podcasts I would listen to at my day job in the warehouse.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">9)
The flag on the cover was the brain child of my cousin, the cover
designer. The entire premise is that anything that is evil and corrupt
usually isn’t original. Evil simply takes originality and tweaks it.
That’s what the Nine did with the U.S. flag.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10) The foreign language in the novel is based off of Tahitian, which I picked up on my LDS mission in French Polynesia.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Saga-of-the-Nine.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Saga-of-the-Nine.jpg"><img alt="Saga of the Nine" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41059" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Saga-of-the-Nine.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Saga-of-the-Nine.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Change
affects everyone and it is no different for Jackson. Living in Area 38
for as long as he can remember, he knows of no better way to exist than
under the tyrannical rule of Christopher Stone, son of Stewart Stone
from The Nine of The United Governmental Areas, aka The UGA. This all
takes a dramatic turn when Jackson finds a red, metal box buried in his
yard, filled with illegal artifacts—journals, a Bible, CDs, etc.—that
are from a man of whom he has no recollection of: Mica Rouge.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The
year is 2036 and Mica, unlike Jackson, does know of a better way of
life but is torn apart as he sees his country, The United States of
America, crumbling from within by group known as The Political Mafia.
The Mafia has infiltrated levels upon levels of governmental resources
and it is up to Mica and a vigilante group known as The USA Division to
stop them and their dark Utopian vision. To their demise, and at the
country's expense, The Division fails and has no choice but to watch The
Constitution dissolve and transform into The UGA.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
a final stand, having not given up hope, Mica and what is left of The
Division, give one final fight in Colorado, or better known as Area 38.
However, all is lost as The Division is betrayed by one of their own,
Stewart Stone. Mica is left with no choice but to hide in exile, leaving
what little history he can of himself and the great United States of
America, with his wife, long time friends, and newly born son in hopes
that they will one day finish what he could not.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jackson,
having found this legacy twenty-seven years later, decides to start the
war that will end The Nine, and he with an outcast group known as The
Raiders, begins his fight with Christopher Stone in Area 38. Filled with
betrayal, unity, despair, hope, hate and love Area 38 follows both Mica
and Jackson in their attempts to restore what they believe to be true
freedom, and where one fails, the other rises to the seemingly
impossible challenge.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Saga-Nine-Mikey-D-B-ebook/dp/B00I3I8R9W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1391036693&sr=1-1&keywords=mikey+d.+b." href="http://www.amazon.com/Saga-Nine-Mikey-D-B-ebook/dp/B00I3I8R9W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1391036693&sr=1-1&keywords=mikey+d.+b." target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Dystopian Thriller</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG13</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Mikey%20D.%20B.&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank" href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Mikey%20D.%20B.&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Mikey D. B. on <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mikey-D-B/193122724228568?ref=hl" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mikey-D-B/193122724228568?ref=hl" target="_blank">Facebook</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/mikeydbii" href="https://twitter.com/mikeydbii" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" data-mce-href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.mikeydb.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy29rFXKoKCy5nHRPTeDOI1JD41dROQ" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.mikeydb.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy29rFXKoKCy5nHRPTeDOI1JD41dROQ" target="_blank">www.mikeydb.com</a></b></span></span></div>
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Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-42911454351356507612014-09-13T11:30:00.000-04:002014-10-28T04:53:44.383-04:00@KirstenArcadio on Quantum Tectonic Events & Split Reality? #AmReading #GoodReads #Thriller <div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<i><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What if a quantum tectonic event split our reality?</span></span></b></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So
that different versions of ourselves appeared from an alternate
universe, to show us what our lives could have been had we made
different choices, or what we might become, should we change our
behaviour right now?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As Werner Heisenberg said,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">‘Atoms
or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of
potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.’</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What
if our lives were made up of infinite possibilities, all of which were
happening simultaneously, until the observer – you – decided to pin one
down? One choice, one life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
my latest novel, Split Symmetry, I explore all of these questions – and
more – against the exciting backdrop of a mysterious Italian mountain
range. Find out what happens when Dr Elena Lewis and a group of her
friends become embroiled in the worst earthquake the region has known
mixed up with a quantum event that changes their lives for ever.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How
do they escape? Can Elena save her friends? Can she save herself? And
when she crosses into a reality she cannot conceive of, what does she
make of it?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Set in the near future,</i><i> </i><i><b>Split Symmetry<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></i><a data-mce-href="http://getbook.at/SplitSymmetry" href="http://getbook.at/SplitSymmetry">[getBook.at/SplitSymmetry</a>]<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>is
the story of what happens when a hike in the notorious Gran Sasso
mountain range in central Italy descends into chaos on the same night
that scientists decide to work on a clandestine experiment in a lab
beneath the mountain. Dr Elena Lewis must work around the clock to find
members of her group who have become lost on the mountain, but just as
she is close to finding them, the region is rocked by one of the worst
earthquakes central Italy has ever known.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Author bio:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kirsten
Arcadio has written three novels, each with a different speculative
theme. Her first novel, Borderliners, was published in February of this
year with the second in the series, Split Symmetry, to be published in
July. The third, WorldCult, is due out just before Christmas. She’s also
a part-time poet, digital communications nerd and frazzled head of an
Anglo-Italian family.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After
working for over fifteen years in digital communications, she returned
to her twin first loves, literature and philosophy, in 2011.
She’s passionate about the big questions in life and how these can be
explored using speculative fiction.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When
she’s not writing she’s obsessing about Sci Fi or Nordic noir.
She loves all things Italian, including her husband, and she once taught
English in the Italian senate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Links:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Split Symmetry, available on Amazon:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Split-Symmetry-Borderliners-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00L19T4QU/" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Split-Symmetry-Borderliners-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00L19T4QU/">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Split-Symmetry-Borderliners-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00L19T4QU/</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blog:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.kirstenarcadio.co.uk/" href="http://www.kirstenarcadio.co.uk/">http://www.kirstenarcadio.co.uk</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Facebook group:<a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/KHArcadio" href="https://www.facebook.com/KHArcadio">https://www.facebook.com/KHArcadio</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Twitter:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/kirstenarcadio" href="https://twitter.com/kirstenarcadio">https://twitter.com/kirstenarcadio</a></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Split-Symmetry.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Split-Symmetry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Split Symmetry" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-41075" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Split-Symmetry.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Split-Symmetry.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b>Lost</b></i><i> </i>meets <b><i>The Poseidon Adventure</i> </b>with a hint of <b><i>Sliding Doors</i></b>!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>It's 2015 in the notorious Gran Sasso mountain range of central Italy.</i><br /><i>Quantum physicists in a lab beneath the ground begin an illegal experiment. </i><br /><i>A landslide hits and a hiking group is stranded. </i></span></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Every decision, every step of the way...changes reality.</b> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book #2 of the best-selling Borderliners series, this other-worldly adventure will keep you turning the pages to the very </span></span>end!<br />
<br />
<i><b>'A novel about what it is to survive and endure, what defi</b></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>nes us, how it
is to be ruled by fear, to be a slave to the terror of nature and what
it feels like to love.' Five star customer review. </i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Split-Symmetry-Borderliners-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00L19T4QU/" href="http://www.amazon.com/Split-Symmetry-Borderliners-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00L19T4QU/">Amazon</a> & <a data-mce-href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/442559" href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/442559">Smashwords</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - Speculative thriller</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Kirsten-Arcadio/e/B00IMCFACG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kirsten-Arcadio/e/B00IMCFACG/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Kirsten Arcadio through <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/KHArcadio" href="https://www.facebook.com/KHArcadio">Facebook</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/kirstenarcadio" href="https://twitter.com/kirstenarcadio">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-71512940919677544432014-09-13T10:30:00.000-04:002014-10-29T05:52:12.906-04:00INSIDE/OUTSIDE #Excerpt by @JennyHayworth1 #AmReading #Memoir #NonFiction<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In
2004 I had commenced studying for my bachelor of nursing degree at
university. I completed nine units over a twelve-month period and then
decided it was not for me. When considering other careers, I decided to
transfer to social work as I was allowed to do eight subjects of another
discipline as part of the degree, so I wouldn’t have wasted a year of
study. However, the university had closed the midyear intake, and I did
not wish to wait until March the following year to commence studying. I
looked at psychology and transferred my nine subjects over to that
degree and commenced straightaway. I was living in a small town and
working part time at the local hospital as well as studying.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
read an advertisement in the local paper asking for volunteers. I had
not forgotten in the past years how many times the Lifeline counsellors
had been there for me in my darkest hours, and I was determined to give
back for all I had taken. It was an inner force driving me. I had always
known, from the first time I had been encouraged by the mental-health
support nurse to enrol and do the course, that I would return one day
and work on the phones. Now, looking at the advertisement in the paper, I
decided it was time.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
applied to do the telephone-counselling course and was accepted. During
the following three months, I completed 120 hours of role play
education and learnt the art of reflective listening. My journey of
personal growth at that time was extraordinary. Once again I felt in awe
of this agency, set up to help normal, everyday people help other
everyday people in distress. I loved the fact that it didn’t matter what
faith or belief you had; as long as you agreed with the foundation
principles, you could be trained to be a telephone counsellor.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
completed the course and loved every minute of it. I found much of it
challenging, as we had to learn to listen actively and reflectively and
support people who were suicidal, self-harming, or in dire need of a
listening ear for all different reasons. People who had been victims of
domestic violence or sexual assault, or who suffered from mental
illnesses, came and spoke to us, which personally challenged any
preconceptions and biases we might have held. I learnt so much from the
role playing and having a group reflect back to me about how I
performed. The feedback from others, on such things as tone of voice and
my effectiveness in how I used each of the skills we needed to learn,
was invaluable.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
learnt how I had to put aside my own experiences, background, and
preconceptions even if I had experienced some of the issues that clients
raised on the phone. I had to truly listen and be there with people, by
their sides, as they poured out their personal pain. I learnt so much
about myself and more importantly, about how to truly be with someone
else who was going through personal crises or was in emotional pain.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
passed the course and was approved to move on to practical experience
on the telephones. There were plenty of support people on hand to sit
with me for as long as I required. I found that knowing what had helped <i>me</i> the
most when I had been the one calling helped me now to a certain degree,
but the most important thing was to be fully available emotionally to
the person on the other end. The Egan method of counselling, which is
the basis of Lifeline training, is a person-centred therapy. The tools
they taught us in regard to how to listen and guide another actively
through the maze of often-conflicting options and emotions were
invaluable.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
encountered every situation you could think of in these few months.
Most who were suicidal had attempted suicide before and been in
hospital, or they felt suicidal and were in extreme emotional pain that
they didn’t feel they could share with their families or friends. Some
had actual suicidal plans, and yet something had made them ring instead
of carrying through with them at that particular time.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many
were just plain lonely to the bone and had no one to listen to them or
to talk with. I was surprised that just a hearing ear was what most
people wished for. Nearly all who phoned had no trouble talking, and
they let me know when they had talked enough, felt better and more able
to cope, and could carry on.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many
people said they had told secrets they had kept for years—things they
had done they were ashamed of and didn’t feel they could live with if
anyone found out, conflicted emotions about partners and children and
parents. They spoke about things they were scared to voice out loud to
those around them but needed to be heard and to say. They needed to have
a chance, in a safe place with a safe person they couldn’t see, to say
the words and work out their own path in the telling.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Everyone had a story.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One
particular night I went on my shift as usual. From the time the phone
rang and I picked up the call, I knew I had a young woman on the line
that was serious about taking her life.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Hello, Lifeline. How can I help you?” I answered.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At
first there was only silence. I sat quietly listening as I had been
taught, and I could hear music in the background, and the soft sounds of
someone breathing.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“It’s okay, take your time. I am right here when you want to start talking.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
heard the sound of a deep intake of breath. Gulping, ragged sobs filled
the earpiece of my phone, and the sound of someone trying to suck back
in all the pain echoed in my ear. I could identify it was a female
crying although no words had been spoken by her yet.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I allowed about fifteen more seconds to go by whilst I listened to her crying.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“You
don’t have to start at the beginning. Sometimes it’s too hard to know
where to start. It’s okay not to know,” I said. Sounds of more crying
filled my ear, louder now and less controlled. It was the sort of crying
that occurs when someone is absolutely bereft, exhausted, and in
despair. The wailing was coming from the depths of someone’s soul, the
sound of someone who had lost everything and had nothing remaining.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
allowed a few more seconds to go by until I heard a lull in the crying
as the person struggled to get their breath. “I am right here with you.
You are not alone,” I said. The wailing was less intense, and I could
tell she was listening to me. “I can hear you are in enormous emotional
pain. It is okay to cry. You’re not alone anymore.” I stayed quiet for a
few seconds. “What is your name?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Karen.” Sobs started slowly building up intensity again.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Karen, can you tell me what is happening for you right now? What made you pick up the phone and ring me tonight?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I
just want to die. I just want to die.” The female voice wailed loud and
high, frantic and nearly shouting. “I can’t do it anymore. It’s just
too hard. I just want to die. I can’t take anymore. It’s too much. It’s
all too much.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
identified exhaustion, slurring, lack of hope, and the clink of what
sounded like a glass. I pushed the “alert” button and, at the same time,
dialled the number for my supervisor on the mobile phone I had next to
me. I left the phone on the bench and kept talking.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Where are you right now? Are you at home?” I asked.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yes.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Where is home, Karen?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“It doesn’t matter. I want to die. I just want to die.” Her voice rose again to a crescendo.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Karen, have you been drinking?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Vodka.
It is my favourite drink. I’ve nearly finished the bottle.” Her voice
was slurring, and my concern elevated another notch as her ability to
self-moderate and respond to reasoning would be compromised. Suddenly
her voice slipped into the hushed sing-song tones of a little girl. It
was so soft, and her words so slurred, I was finding it hard to pick up
the meaning of what she was saying.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I’m touching me. I’m touching me. Oh, there’s blood all over everywhere. I can taste it.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soft
moaning filled the air. The strains of music in the background muffled
her voice. “Daddy, Daddy. Oh, I am so turned on. Why are you doing this
to me? Why?” Her moans changed to a high-pitched sob, and her gulp for
breath filled my ear.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Karen, are you cutting yourself?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yes. There is blood everywhere. I am going to die. I want to die.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Karen,
can you please put the knife or razor down whilst you are talking to
me? Karen, have you put down what you are cutting yourself with? I need
you to put it down whilst you talk to me.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yes.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Karen,
I hear that you want to die. I believe you. But part of you picked up
the phone and rang me tonight. Part of you must want to live, as you
rang me tonight. I need to talk to that part of you that wants to live.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“No,
I want to die.” Her voice suddenly changed back to that of an adult.
“All of me wants to die. I can’t take it anymore. My daughters will be
better off with me dead. I’m no good to them. They should stay with
their father all the time. They would be better off. I am useless to
them.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I
hear you say you believe your daughters will be better off with you
dead. I hear you say you want to die.” I allowed a few seconds’ silence.
Her breathing was noisy and raspy. “Why did you ring me tonight, Karen?
Why did you ring me on the night you want to die?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Her
voice, interlaced with sobs, shouted down the phone at me. “Because I’m
scared. I don’t want to be alone when I die. I want someone with me.” I
waited a few seconds until her loud, frantic sobs started to die down.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I
hear you’re scared, Karen. Karen, if I could wave a magic wand and take
all your emotional pain away, would you still want to die? If all the
emotional pain was gone, would you still want to die?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“No,
but you can’t. No one can. I’ve tried. I’ve tried everything, and
nothing works. This is going to work. It is all going to end tonight.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Tell me about your emotional pain, Karen. Tell me why it feels so bad.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Everything
else in the room and in my life ceased to exist except for her voice,
her words, her story, and the phone against my ear. I tried to stay with
her as she went to some dark places and took me with her.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She
was currently separated and had two young daughters. They lived with
her full time, but this weekend they were staying with their father. She
said he was a good father, and her daughters enjoyed going. She
sometimes spoke in a normal-sounding voice and then would switch to a
voice that sounded like a little girl’s as she regressed in time and was
living a reality back from when she was a child. She was drinking vodka
as we spoke and sometimes masturbating. She kept on picking up the
razor and cutting herself. She was in her bedroom with loud music
playing whilst she was cutting the top of her leg deep down to her
femoral artery.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She wanted to die.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She
had made up her mind that it would happen this weekend, and her
ex-husband would find her on the Monday morning after he had dropped
their daughters at school and come around to drop off their gear. She
was a victim of long and sustained childhood sexual abuse by her father.
She kept drifting in and out of consciousness toward the end of the
call. She was in an altered reality because of emotional pain,
intoxication, and sedatives and was cutting and masturbating to try to
alleviate some of her tension while stating she wanted to die. Her
memories of childhood and adult emotional pain intermingled.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My
supervisor had come in and had called the police in the caller’s area
twice already. Unfortunately, as police had taken her suicidal to
hospital some months previously, they were in no hurry to get to her.
They were prioritising other calls, not realising the seriousness of the
situation. This was not an unusual situation for us on the phones. Many
police were escorts for the mentally ill and suicidal, taking them to
hospital, and most had regulars in their areas that they got to know
well. This sometimes made them act with less urgency.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However,
my supervisor kept ringing and conveying to them that I was an
experienced counsellor, and she trusted my instinct that this girl was
actively attempting to suicide and would bleed to death if no one
reached her soon. All my gut instinct was screaming out to me that this
was so. I channelled all my energy and every fibre of my being down that
phone to her; I was a hundred percent focused on trying to say the
right words to convey to her to live and not to die, and that I was
there for her.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
appealed to her as a fellow human being, through her daughters, through
the young self she kept slipping into, that there was hope, there was a
reason to live, there was a way out of this pain, there was a way to
have the emotional pain stop and end without her having to die. She
wanted the emotional pain to end, but that didn’t mean her life had to
end. Her daughters would not be better off with her dead. When she
didn’t have the emotional pain to deal with, she could be there for
them. She could be the mother she wanted to be. She could build a new
life once the pain was gone. She could trust people again.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
asked her what had happened this particular weekend that was the final
straw that had made her decide to kill herself. She had received a bill
in the mail that she said she could not pay. It was added to the other
bills, and it was the breaking point for her.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
was all too much. She had no one to share her pain with or to support
her through her marriage breakup, being a mother, or her own abuse
memories that were flooding her now that she was on her own. She did not
feel she could cope as an adult in this world any longer. She did not
feel she could be an adequate parent and role model for her daughters
when she could barely get out of bed each day. She didn’t want them to
see her like this. She didn’t want to frighten them. She was starting to
behave in ways she did not like. She felt they would be better off
without her.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
tried to ask her what had helped her get through these times in the
past, when she had previously been this distressed and suicidal. But it
was nearly impossible to reason as an adult with her when her
rationality was not in charge, and her younger, seemingly emotional self
was in charge.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
therefore said that Karen the adult needed to look after Karen the
child. Her child self didn’t need to be cut and hurt. Her child self
didn’t need sexual stimulation when she was drunk and scared. Her child
self needed the adult Karen who had rung Lifeline to put down the razor,
put down the alcohol, and just let her sleep, let her lie down and
rest, as she had been through enough.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She
stopped talking, and I no longer knew if she was conscious. I just kept
talking and talking, hoping she could hear me and hoping something I
was saying in a calm, soothing, nonjudgmental voice was getting through
to her.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
police arrived at the house; I could hear through the phone that they
were breaking down the door. One of the police picked up the phone and
started talking to me. He said she had cut down to the artery, and it
looked like she had nicked it. There was blood everywhere. She was
unconscious, but the paramedics had arrived, and they were taking her to
the hospital.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was so relieved.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He
hung up the phone, and suddenly there was just silence where there had
been intense energy and focus. All the energy just drained out of me,
and I felt myself start to shake. She was alive. She was going to make
it—for that night anyway. I prayed and hoped someone at the hospital
would relate to her and help her. That she would find a doctor or
therapist who could help her find a way out of the maze and trap she had
found herself in with no hope.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On
the way home, in the dark and quiet, I suddenly had to pull my car
over. I thanked the whole universe for letting me be the one to sit with
Karen during her pain, for the police and paramedics who had gone to
her assistance, and for the doctors and nurses who would be attending to
her. I had intensely related to her. I understood her switching between
her child self and adult self. I understood her use of masturbation and
alcohol to try to alleviate the intense aloneness and emotional pain. I
understood the cutting and thumping music for the same reasons.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then
I just sat in the dark, in the stillness and the silence, and with my
whole heart wished and prayed she would find a way in the coming weeks
and months through her emotional pain so she could find a reason to live
again and be wholly there for her daughters as she grew older. As
people had been there for me when I was at my lowest.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
felt something click together in my head and heart. It was a physical
sensation and a feeling of completeness that washed over me. Something
closed up in me that I had not realised until then had still been open. A
feeling of fullness and wholeness filled me.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
prayed to the universe to watch over the young woman, and in my mind’s
eye I handed over the responsibility for her healing and destiny to the
universe. I trusted that her journey and mine had collided for a reason,
but that reason was completed now. I let go of her figurative hand. I
felt the anxiety connected to what might have been happening with her
leave me.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
started the car again and drove home. I felt deep within my bones that I
had fulfilled a karmic debt, and the circle was complete.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was released.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/insideOutside.jpg" /></span></span></div>
<div id="postBodyPS" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***Award winning book (finalist) in 2014 Beverley Hills International Book Awards***</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jenny
Hayworth grew up within the construct of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which
she describes as a fundamentalist cult-like religion. She devoted her
life to it for over thirty years. Then she left it. The church
“unfellowshipped” her-rendering her dead to those family and friends
still committed to the church.Hayworth is a sexual abuse survivor. The
trauma changed her self-perception, emotional development, trust, and
every interaction with the world.</span></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Inside/Outside
is her exploration of sexual abuse, religious fundamentalism, and
recovery. Her childhood circumstances and tragedies forced her to live
“inside.” This memoir chronicles her journey from experiencing comfort
and emotional satisfaction only within her fantasy world to developing
the ability to feel and express real life emotion on the “outside.”</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
is a story that begins with tragic multigenerational abuse, within an
oppressive society, and ends with hope and rebirth into a life where she
experiences real connections and satisfaction with the outside world.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those
who have ever felt trapped by trauma or circumstances will find
Inside/Outside a dramatic reassurance that they are not alone in the
world, and they have the ability to have a fulfilling life, both inside
and out.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Foreward
Clarion Review – “What keeps the pages of Hayworth’s life story turning
is her honesty, tenacity, and sheer will to survive through an
astounding number of setbacks. Inside/Outside proves the resilience of
the human spirit and shows that the cycle of abuse can indeed be broken”</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kirkus
Review – “A harrowing memoir of one woman’s struggle to cope with
sexual abuse and depression while living in – and eventually leaving –
the Jehovah’s Witnesses”</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Readers Favourite 5 Star Review – “The book is an inspiring story for those who are going through traumatic times…”</span></span></div>
</div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Outside-Womans-Recovery-Religious-ebook/dp/B00I08IY3E/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-3&qid=1390284848&tag=booaremag-20" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Memoir</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG-13</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jenny-Hayworth/e/B00HWV6K8Q/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with Jenny Hayworth on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenny-Hayworth/201860833330961" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a href="http://twitter.com/JennyHayworth1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7486841659756935600.post-52383063429046156162014-09-13T09:00:00.000-04:002014-09-17T19:36:07.901-04:00James Rada Jr. on Developing His Writing & Making Money @JimRada #AmReading #Historical <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How did you develop your writing?</b></span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My
first short stories were primarily horror. I had about three dozen
stories published before my tastes started shifting to YA and thriller.
Then I moved to historical novels and eventually added non-fiction
history. Now I’m starting to go back and dabble with thrillers and YA.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For
me, the hardest part is the marketing. That’s not to say that getting
published and writing the book is easy. It’s just that I’m naturally an
introvert so going out and pushing my works just feels wrong to me. It
feels like I’m bragging and I was raised not to do that. It’s a
necessary evil, though. So I continue to move outside of my comfort zone
and learn how to market myself. I feel like I’m getting better at it,
but it’s a slow process.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Do you find it hard to share your work?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
like to talk about my stories and history because I find the stories
interesting. However, if I am sharing my work in the hopes that someone
will buy it, I start to get uncomfortable. Same book. Same topic. In my
mind, though, when the goal is a sale something changes. I try and keep
myself focused on talking about the story without worrying about whether
it ends in a sale or not.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Do you plan to publish more books?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve
already published seven non-fiction books, five historical novels, one
thriller and one YA books. Most of these have been self-published and I
plan on doing more. In fact, I plan on exploring some other genres. I
will probably write them under pen names, though.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What else do you do to make money, other than write? It is rare today for writers to be full time.</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
am a full-time freelance writer. Besides books, I write articles,
newspaper columns, press releases and advertising copy. I will also do
editing and talks. Finally, I teach writing courses at a couple
community colleges. It keeps me very busy and at times, my life is quite
crazy.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>What other jobs have you had in your life?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When
I was in high school I worked as a cashier at a pharmacy and a kennel
worker at a veterinarian. In college, I worked as a personal trainer at a
fitness center. After college, I was the manager of a K-Mart shoe
department. Then I worked as a marketing writing for a biotech company
and moved on to be a reporter and editor for various newspapers.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>If you could study any subject at university what would you pick?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
would probably study history with a minor in creative writing. I
sometimes consider going back and getting my master’s degree, but after
having been a professional writer for 26 years, I’m not sure if it would
be worth. I would probably do it, though, if it wasn’t so expensive.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
don’t know if I could name one specific area. I like a lot of places
that I have visited for different reasons so it’s hard to say this is
the perfect place for me. I know that I wouldn’t want to live in a big
city, but I would still like to be within an hour’s commute of one to
take advantage of some of the opportunities there. I live in a very
historic area now, which I enjoy. I would probably want to continue
that. I would also probably like a place without harsh or very cold
winters.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Tell us about your family?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I
have a wife and two sons. I’ve been married for 24 years. My wife works
as a medical technologist. One of my sons just graduated and wants to
join the military. My other son is in middle school and says he wants to
be an engineer. I am the only one who has the writing bug, though my
youngest son likes to read.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/lockready.jpg" /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Civil War split the United States and now it has split the Fitzgerald
Family. Although George Fitzgerald has returned from the war, his sister
Elizabeth Fitzgerald has chosen to remain in Washington to volunteer as
a nurse. The ex-Confederate spy, David Windover, has given up on his
dream of being with Alice Fitzgerald and is trying to move on with his
life in Cumberland, Md. Alice and her sons continue to haul coal along
the 184.5-mile-long C&O Canal. It is dangerous work, though, during
war time because the canal runs along the Potomac River and between the
North and South. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Having
had to endured death and loss already, Alice wonders whether remaining
on the canal is worth the cost. She wants her family reunited and safe,
but she can’t reconcile her feelings between David and her dead husband.
Her adopted son, Tony, has his own questions that he is trying to
answer. He wants to know who he is and if his birth mother ever loved
him. As he tries to find out more about his birth mother and father, he
stumbles onto a plan by Confederate sympathizers to sabotage the canal
and burn dozens of canal boats. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He
enlists David’s help to try and disrupt the plot before it endangers
his new family, but first they will have find out who is behind the
plot.</span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lock-Ready-A-Canawlers-Novel/dp/0692211454/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400758482&sr=8-1&keywords=lock+ready+rada" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Historical Fiction</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG-13</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=James+Rada+Jr.&search-alias=books&text=James+Rada+Jr.&sort=relevancerank" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Connect</b> with James Rada Jr. on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jim.rada" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/jimrada" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Website <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://jamesrada.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy28d4iaix3UBtVx6pNwPpNkw3GcEKA" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">jamesrada.com</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0