tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38780282530398982292024-02-19T11:52:30.752-05:00Pastime With BooksQuality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.comBlogger739125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-26194720317235822852015-04-18T08:30:00.000-04:002015-04-30T17:17:40.841-04:00Mike Hartner on Social Media Presence & Networkting @MHartnerAuthor #BookMarketing #Authors<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 />
<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/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>
<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 - Historical Fiction, 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</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/Mike-Hartner/e/B009VJQBEA/" href="http://www.amazon.com/Mike-Hartner/e/B009VJQBEA/" target="_blank">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>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-3878028253039898229.post-55708816842803239482014-12-17T08:00:00.000-05:002014-12-17T08:00:04.239-05:00Roland Hughes on Commercial Falsehoods & Tea Flavoured Coffee #AmWriting #Selfpub #Dystopian<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 />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One
of the favorite things for commercial creators these days is to portray
writers in coffee houses tapping away at their tablet or dumb-phone
creating the great American novel or some such thing. Personally I
don't know any serious typist, writer or otherwise, who would even
remotely consider typing on either a tablet or dumb-phone. I mean that
is like beating your fingers against concrete. “Touch” typing, despite
the name, has nothing to do with how solidly one hits the keys. Those
of us who type fast or learned on manual typewriters (okay, I understand
kids today have no idea what a manual typewriter is) have some force in
our fingers. I've been known to cook a cheap keyboard in under six
months. I know of others who gladly pay north of $100 for a mechanical
wired keyboard because their fingers go numb using a soft membrane
keyboard.</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;">What
is perhaps the biggest falsehood of the commercials is that writers
drink coffee. I've never met one. I come from the IT side of life so I
drink Mt. Dew or iced tea. Coffee in all its forms is just plain<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>nasty</i>.
I won't even mention what people's breath smells like after they take a
swallow. I can't imagine having to breath the air in a coffee shop for
hours on end. I'd rather take my chances with the visible air in
Beijing. We will not mention what a growing number of people consider
coffee the beverage of, but it is a category nobody wants to join.</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>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
real life thing which is most offensive is being forced to purchase
tea, especially iced tea, from a place which also sells coffee. Most of
the people who work there seem to be coffee, or as it was so eloquently
called in that wonderful television series Sanctuary, “brown mud”,
drinkers. When told they have to brew a container of iced tea they will
simply dump out the coffee grounds, toss in some tea bags, and use the
same brewer to brew the liquid they sell as tea. It isn't tea. It is
tea flavored coffee and it is disgusting!</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>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What
brings this post to mind is car shopping yesterday. I was at one of
those “immerse the customer” dealerships yesterday. They seem to be the
new trend in car dealerships. A small food court, play room for the
kids, comfy chairs with multiple televisions, etc. All designed to get
the customer in the habit of spending time in the dealership. I looked
around while waiting and noticed quite a few writers typing away on
netbooks and notebooks, nobody was typing on a tablet. Since this was a
dealership in the Portland area I imagine the ratio of writers to
regular Joes and Janes was a bit higher than many other cities due to
the large creative arts community.</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>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since
I was there to empty my pockets on a new ride I left the trusty netbook
behind. Caffeine addictions must be fed, however, even if one isn't
busy typing. I took a chance. I walked up to a food counter and
ordered a glass of iced tea. It was with some trepidation that I took
my first sip. I was pleasantly surprised and informed the old guy
behind the counter. I didn't call him an old guy to his face of
course. If he reads this and tells me to look in the mirror I will take
no offense. His response was an even greater surprise. “No, we don't
brew tea in anything that's been near coffee because what comes out
isn't tea.” It shouldn't come as a shock I bought my car 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/johnSmith.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;">“John
Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars” is one big interview.
It is a transcript of a dialogue between “John Smith” (who, as the
title of the book implies is the last known survivor of the Microsoft
wars) and the interviewer for a prominent news organization.</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/John-Smith-Known-Survivor-Microsoft/dp/193973200X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a> & <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/john-smith-roland-hughes/1102176003?ean=9781939732002" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">B&N</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 – Dystopian Fiction</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 – PG</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/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Roland+Hughes&search-alias=books&text=Roland+Hughes&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;">
<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://johnsmith-book.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-70oxuHXvWgcvombsi9GJmpfL5eA" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://johnsmith-book.com/</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-43063746519508803772014-12-09T08:00:00.000-05:002014-12-09T08:00:01.944-05:00A Surprise in Class from THE REALITY MASTER (Vol.1) by @PMPillon #YA #SciFi #Excerpt <b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">A SURPRISE IN CLASS</span></span></span></b><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;">Joey
kept the stone in his book bag, and now that he had it he was blasé
about it, feeling none of the consternation that had preceded its
acquisition; he didn’t get around to examining it and was starting to
forget that he had it until several days later when he found himself in
another spelling bee. Mr. Sheridan provided the words to spell and again
Joey was one of just two students left in the competition when Mr.
Sheridan again pronounced a word that made no sense to him, so he was
forced to just guess, but guessed wrong. The other student spelled it
correctly, and just like in the previous occasion, when Joey heard the
word the second time he realized what it was and that he knew how to
spell it. </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;">He
liked Mr. Sheridan, but this was the second time that his imperfect
pronunciation caused Joey to lose a spelling bee. It was a déjà vu all
over again that he sure didn’t need. Because this time the winner was
headed for the all-school bee, Joey was incredulous and more frustrated
than ever; he wanted to scream and tear his hair out. It seemed like
nothing could go right for him, but just then, he heard a buzzing in his
book bag. This surprised him because he was sure he had left his cell
phone at home. He put his left hand into the bag and felt the stone
vibrating like a cell phone. He feared it might have hatched into
something dangerous, so he let it go immediately, then shone his pen
light at it to see if it had changed in some way, but it looked the same
as when he found it. He pushed it over with a pencil and saw that it
was the same all the way around, so he finally it out with his right
hand and was astonished to see on its face a detailed scene depiction on
a split screen in full color. Then a larger screen appeared, hovering
in front of him, showing on its left side himself, misspelling the word.
On the right side, he was both hearing and spelling it correctly. Joey
could differentiate the voices simultaneously on both sides of the split
screen. He gawked at this impossible scene, and eventually a question
mark appeared straddling both sides, signaling that Joey was to choose
between the two outcomes.</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;">Joey
sat and stared at this, speechless, in shock, as unable to react as he
was when Frank’s rock came tumbling down the path straight at his head.
At that very moment, a totally unexpected thought occurred to Joey: My
mission starts now. This was too much for him. Not knowing what else to
do, he shoved the stone back into his bag without responding to its
apparent offer. When he looked up from the bag he expected to see the
bewildered or even horrified faces of other students all staring at him,
but instead he saw that the larger screen had disappeared and everyone,
including teacher and students, was frozen in place, unmoving – like
inanimate objects. Then they suddenly started to move again, but were
seemingly unaware of what happened and were just sitting placidly,
focused on the teacher. Only Frank, sitting right next to Joey, was
staring at him – everyone else was clearly oblivious to this astounding
event – and he whispered, “Jesus, Joey, you look spooked. Did you see a
ghost, or what?”</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<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: small;"><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: small;"><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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 1 The Reality Master</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 2 Threat To The World</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 3 Travel Beyond</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 4 Missions Through Time</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Vol 5 The Return Home</span></span></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-3878028253039898229.post-12131975222902430842014-12-05T11:30:00.000-05:002015-03-06T01:16:16.337-05:00John E. Wade on the 10 Elements of Heaven on Earth & Its Impact on Readers #Motivation #AmReading <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;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">While
I know this size of this small book indicates that it will be a quick
and easy read—and does not take long to read—its impact on the reader
will be much deeper than they might anticipate. As billed, the book
indeed contains “inspiring quotations and insightful essays.” The
chapters are organized by topics, which are the ten elements of heaven
on earth which I have identified: peace and security, freedom,
democracies, prosperity, gender harmony, racial harmony, spiritual
harmony, ecological harmony, health, and moral purpose and meaning.
There is also a chapter entitled, “Individual Paths to Heaven on Earth,”
which includes some well-known quotations, as well as quotes from
“regular people” who state what heaven on earth would feel like for
them.</span></span></span></div>
<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;">
<br /></div>
<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 previously published<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth</i>, and the four other co-authors of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Glimpses of Heaven on Earth<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>each
contributed an essay to this first book. I think readers will be
interested in reading about the different backgrounds of each of the
co-authors, as I am a retired CPA who now devotes my time to investing
and writing. I have several active blogs which can be found on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.JohnEWadeII.com" href="http://www.johnewadeii.com/"><span class="s3">www.JohnEWadeII.com</span></a>,<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>, and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.HonestJohnWade.com" href="http://www.honestjohnwade.com/"><span class="s3">www.HonestJohnWade.com</span></a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(which focuses on politics). </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">Charlotte
L. Piotrowski spent ten years litigating complex cases before she
turned her attention to writing, editing, and content creation for
websites and blogs on a freelance basis. Charlotte and I both live in
New Orleans, and work closely together on my many creative projects.
Daniel Agatino practices law and teaches in New Jersey, while Michael
Nagler founded the Metta Center for Nonviolence (<a data-mce-href="http://www.mettacenter.org" href="http://www.mettacenter.org/"><span class="s3">www.mettacenter.org</span></a>) and Martin Rutte is the founder of Project Heaven on Earth (<a data-mce-href="http://www.projectheavenonearth.com" href="http://www.projectheavenonearth.com/"><span class="s3">www.projectheavenonearth.com</span></a>)
and is a popular inspirational speaker. I think this diversity is what
really brings this book alive and makes it so relatable to any reader.</span></span></span></div>
<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">Not
to brag too much, but I think we did an excellent job locating and
including wonderfully inspiring quotations that truly relate to each of
the ten elements. Here are some examples:</span></span></span></div>
<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;">
<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson</span></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">“Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.” - Calvin Coolidge</span></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">“Prejudice is the child of ignorance.” - William Hazlitt</span></span></span></i></div>
<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;">
<br /></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">“I
expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any
kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let
me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way
again.” - William Penn</span></span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="s2">There
are many lesser-known quotations included as well, and as should be
evident, the more you really contemplate the quotes, the more impactful
they become. I expect each reader will have her or his own favorite
portions of the book, to which they will want to return time and time
again. For this reason, I believe this book is destined to become a
classic. It can truly help to start some much-needed and interesting
dialog. So I cannot help but to highly recommend this book, and hope you
enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.</span></span></span></div>
<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/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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<br /></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>
<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 - Inspirational</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 – 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>
<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 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>
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Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-24471628256070999642014-12-02T08:00:00.000-05:002015-01-18T03:25:47.055-05:00LUCIFER & THE INDIGO KIDS - Hannah - by @Lord_Ra_Krishna #MustRead #Poetry #AmReading <i><b><span style="font-size: large;">~Hannah~ </span></b></i><br />
<br />
Butterflies and Blunts<br />
Surfboarding in outer space <br />
<br />
Amber and crystals <br />
on my fingers<br />
Beautiful tattoos on my face...<br />
<br />
Inspiration...<br />
Interracial...<br />
Cocaine nights <br />
And track shoe days...<br />
<br />
Inspired me to live my music...<br />
I won't forget the way we slept<br />
<br />
Like two snakes on Hermes Scepter<br />
Entangled in a warm embrace...<br />
<br />
The name... the same...<br />
Backwards or forwards...<br />
H-A-N-N-A and H<br />
<br />
Yellow diamonds on a butterfly ring<br />
Her name is tattooed on my neck<br />
<br />
Now we're married / then divorced<br />
In strawberry fields is where we met...<br />
<br />
Krishna... Buddha... Jesus... Loki... <br />
Achilles.... Alexander and me<br />
Interracial... and taboo...<br />
I won't forget the way we slept<br />
<br />
Was it love? Or just a fling?<br />
Do you still have that butterfly ring<br />
<br />
I think I took it back from you...<br />
You hurt my feelings in the club...<br />
<br />
Like somebody else I know?<br />
And we are kinda married still<br />
<br />
A god no monster can defeat...<br />
But love is my Achilles heel <br />
<br />
1000 leagues beneath the ocean<br />
Further than the deepest depths...<br />
<br />
Like 2 snakes on Hermes Scepter<br />
I won't forget the way we slept<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqe6-U6hT7-58RDx0TaqKLDmorNvbTffFCYmXarB4O_hmUt-9zripYdANPWjbDSbvALwXxyOaD1kMuoU0Qf3wnWSvQ14yuKvpkBE-44fo2S9y65UZcB1e2mNNG_k1jdvGH8O8zFmuTkhdB/s1600/10543606_799244456762857_1951121046706555738_n.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqe6-U6hT7-58RDx0TaqKLDmorNvbTffFCYmXarB4O_hmUt-9zripYdANPWjbDSbvALwXxyOaD1kMuoU0Qf3wnWSvQ14yuKvpkBE-44fo2S9y65UZcB1e2mNNG_k1jdvGH8O8zFmuTkhdB/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>
<div align="center" style="color: #333333; 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 - Poetry, Philosophy</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="color: #333333; 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="color: #333333; 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/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-3878028253039898229.post-55750414879608271512014-11-25T09:00:00.000-05:002015-02-24T22:10:07.298-05:00A LIFE LESS ORDINARY by Victoria Bernadine @VicBernadine #Women #AmReading #ChickLit<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
coffee shop wasn’t very busy. Only a couple of tables were occupied,
with several more people standing in line. Manny sat rather nervously at
her table sipping her third vanilla latte and wondering if she was as
crazy as Rebecca and Daisy claimed. This would be her fourth interview
today of a potential travelling companion and she hoped this guy would
be more of a possibility than the other three she’d already met. Oh,
they all seemed nice enough, but Olive had been jittery and they’d
quickly realized their personalities would never mesh well enough to
travel together for six months. Isaac had had a predatory, speculative
gleam in his eyes as he looked her over–and she hadn’t needed Harvey to
tell her to stay as far away from <i>him</i> as possible.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Darius
was very sweet and charming, just eighteen, but he couldn’t pay his own
way, and Manny wasn’t about to support him for six months. He’d
shrugged and accepted her decision with an adorable smile and she
offered to call Daisy’s boss, Max, to see if he had any work that Darius
could do. Darius had thanked her and even paid for their lattes, and
they’d chatted for a good forty-five minutes before he’d finally gone on
his way. Yes, he would have been a good choice–and she might change her
mind if she didn’t find anyone before she left in two weeks.</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>You can always go by yourself.</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><i>I know. But it would be more fun with someone else.</i></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>You’ll have me.</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;">Manny
glanced at Harvey sitting in the chair across from her. He was dressed
casually in jeans and a button down shirt open at the throat to show the
strong lines of his neck and chest.</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><i>You’re not real.</i></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;">Harvey winked at her.<b> Just checking.</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;">She
shook her head and Harvey blinked out of existence as the door opened
and a darkly handsome man walked in. He paused in the doorway and
removed his sunglasses as he glanced around the small room. Securely
hidden in her corner, Manny considered 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;">Tall;
over six feet. Dark. Handsome, with large, dark eyes and full pouty
lips. His black, tousled hair and dark stubble on his face gave him a
sexy, scruffy appearance. He was slim, with broad shoulders, narrow hips
and long legs encased in jeans.</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>I’ll bet he has a great ass.</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><i>I’ll bet you’re right.</i></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>He’s like a younger version of me.</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;">Manny
blinked at the man standing in the doorway and realized Harvey was
right. Oh, they didn’t exactly look alike, but they had similar
colouring, and a similar underlying confidence and arrogance in their
stance. Probably something natural when you’re that naturally gorgeous,
Manny thought ruefully, or, in Harvey’s case, that<i>unnaturally</i> perfect.</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>I’d almost be jealous…if I was real.</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><i>But you’re not–and he’s quite something. I wonder who he’s here to me…eeet.</i></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;">Her internal dialogue trailed off as the stranger’s gaze met hers. He gave a half smile and headed towards 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;"><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/ALifeLessOrdinary.jpg" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For
the last fifteen years, Rose “Manny” Mankowski has been a very good
girl. She turned her back on her youthful fancies and focused on her
career. But now, at the age of 45, she’s questioning her choices and
feeling more and more disconnected from her own life. When she’s passed
over for promotion and her much younger new boss implies Manny’s life
will never change, something snaps. In the blink of an eye, she’s quit
her job, sold her house and cashed in her pension, and she’s leaving
town on a six month road trip.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After
placing a personal ad for a travelling companion, she’s joined in her
mid-life crisis by Zeke Powell, the cynical, satirical, most-read – and
most controversial – blogger for the e-magazine, What Women Want. Zeke’s
true goal is to expose Manny’s journey as a pitiful and desperate
attempt to reclaim her lost youth – and increase his readership at the
same time. Leaving it all behind for six months is just an added bonus.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now,
armed with a bagful of destinations, a fistful of maps, and an
out-spoken imaginary friend named Harvey, Manny’s on a quest to
rediscover herself – and taking Zeke along for the ride.</span></span></div>
</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/B00AMJBOSQ" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a> & <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/299257" 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 – ChickLit, Contemporary Fiction</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 – PG-13</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/Victoria-Bernadine/e/B00AN2VS5G/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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <b>Connect</b> with Victoria Bernadine on <a href="https://twitter.com/VicBernadine" 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>Blog <a class="in-cell-link" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://victoriabernadine.wordpress.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2_NZu0iup6n2vJwBd--NRvslbSPnw" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">victoriabernadine.wordpress.com</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-19722247742750622982014-11-08T11:00:00.000-05:002015-01-18T01:28:51.020-05:00Kirsten Mortensen Problems vs. Solutions When You Dream @KirstenWriter #AmWriting #SelfPub<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>Writing and Dreams. Not That Different</b></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By Kirsten Mortensen</span></span></i></div>
<br />
I
love to dream. And not just because it’s so night to get a good night’s
sleep. I love to dream because I’m utterly fascinated by the experience
of finding myself in a strange world—often occupying a strange
identity—that seems utterly complete and coherent while I’m inside it.
What a marvelous thing, consciousness is, to be able to send us into
dream worlds!<br />
<br />
I also believe my love of dreaming is very closely related to my writing.<br />
<br />
In
fact, I think writing—especially writing fiction—is very similar to
dreaming. You might even say that writing fiction is a kind of
controlled, waking dream.<br />
<br />
Think about it.<br />
<br />
When
you dream, you relax. You turn your attention from everyday life. And
you let another part of your mind—one that exists independently of the
mind where you live while you’re awake—take over. It creates characters,
settings, plots, story lines. Things “happen” that cause you to react
emotionally. Problems present themselves—and so do solutions.<br />
<br />
Now
think what happens when you write fiction. You relax your waking mind,
and turn your attention away from everyday life. You let another part of
your mind take over. And it starts creating characters, setting, plot
twists . . .<br />
<br />
With me so far?<br />
<br />
Now how
about this: suppose that paying attention to your dreams helps you to
build bridges between the part of your mind you use to create fiction,
and your waking consciousness—the part of your mind you need to capture
what you’ve created and write it down.<br />
<br />
Isn’t that an intriguing thought?<br />
<br />
I
know that I’ve been paying close attention to dreams my whole life, and
during many periods of my life I’ve kept dream journals. And something
else: there are times—especially when I’ve been getting enough
sleep—when I’m able to consciously control my dreams. Sometimes I
realize I’m dreaming (an experience known as “lucid dreaming”). Other
times, I feel like I’m a movie director. If I don’t like what’s
happening, I’ll change it.<br />
<br />
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve
come to believe that this practice has helped me as a writer. It’s very
subtle, but I can feel it when my mind “switches” to a different mode,
the mode where I’m generating fictional characters, fictional worlds.<br />
<br />
I
believe there’s a connection. Scientists know today that when we
practice any task—whether its navigating city streets, doing Sudoku
puzzles, or memorizing poetry—our brains become better at that task.<br />
<br />
I’ve written about this topic at length in a non-fiction book I published, called Writing, Dreams, and Consciousness.<br />
<br />
And
I believe that the work I’ve done as a dreamer is one reason that the
world I created in my latest novel, Dark Chemistry, is so vivid that
readers tell me it makes a strong impression on them. That world really
does exist—I know. I’ve dreamt it!<br />
<br />
So here’s my
proposal: paying attention to dreams—keeping a dream journal, for
example, and writing down what we can remember of our dreams when we
wake in the morning—is a way of training our brains to create fictional
worlds.<br />
<br />
What do you think? Do you remember your dreams? Have you ever kept a dream journal?<br />
<br />
And if you decide to try, to see if it helps you develop a writer, please let me know. I’d love to hear about your experience.<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 />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>But now her father is dead.</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;">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 />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<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 />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<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 />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></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-3878028253039898229.post-82328938563177314672014-10-30T07:30:00.000-04:002015-01-15T13:13:11.054-05:00The Newbies Guide to Surviving Bad Reviews by Amy Lewis @AmyLewisAuthor #AmWriting #WriteTip<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;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The newbies guide to surviving bad reviews</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It
was already a bad day when I read her review, only half paying
attention to the words, because it was 6 am, and I had not slept well. I
got a full three sentences in before I realized, "Wow, this lady really
hated my memoir." Not only is she trashing my writing, she's trashing
me, and not so subtly accusing me of lying. She suggested not everything
in my memoir really happened to me. Despite the good reviews that had
been rolling in, as a first time indie author, I could not stop thinking
about this lady who hated my book. I knew I shouldn't care. I knew as
an artist I put my work out there and welcome good and bad feedback. Art
is subjective. I know that. But still my mind obsessed. If my book had
been fiction maybe her review would be easier to take. She thinks my
heroine sucks - no problem. But this was a memoir. She was basically
saying "you're worthless, your story is worthless and you should have
written it in a diary and kept it to yourself." Ouch. I googled how to
deal with bad reviews. I visited sites that list all the horrible
reviews that famous, award winning books received. I laughed and felt in
very good company ... but only slightly. I was not a famous writer. I’m
guessing bad reviews don't hurt as much when you're sitting on a pile
of money and holding your Pulitzer Prize. I considered writing her
back. I know this is a huge no-no. I found myself reduced to age 11 and
wanted to say horrible and childish things to her. I came up with many
creative insults, but I kept them to myself.</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;">It
took a few days for me to cool down and begin to see the bigger
picture. I finally got my "aha" moment as people like to say. This
lady's review actually could be a huge gift. Huge! I should actually be
thanking her. I have struggled all my life with people pleasing and
holding my self-expression back to fit in and be liked. I learned from a
young age to read people and give them what they wanted, what would
make them happy. I've been aware of my accommodating tendencies for
decades, but breaking out of them has been a challenge. The more I
relaxed and let go of my anger, the more I smiled when I thought of this
book-hating lady and her nasty review. Someone doesn't like me or my
book. Big f-ing deal. My world didn't shatter. I didn’t stop breathing.
In fact, nothing happened. There is nothing wrong with hating someone's
memoir, and there is no crime in sharing in vivid detail your feelings
in a book review. I even began to smile at how much she must dislike me
to take the time to write that particular review.</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
real problem here is not the review or the fact that I got upset. The
real problem is when I or when any writer, artist or human chooses to
stay silent, to not play the game of expressing what is inside that
screams to come out, just because we are afraid we won't be liked or
accepted. The world does not need any more people like that. The world
needs bold artists whose desire to express and create is way bigger than
their fears of how their work will be received. I am happy and proud to
say I am one of those artists. And this bad review helped me to realize
that.</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
leave you with one tip for dealing with bad reviews. When all else
fails, get a copy of the Frozen soundtrack, crank up Let It Go and belt
it out along with Idina Menzel ...</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>Let it go, let it go</i></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>And I'll rise like the break of dawn</i></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Let it go, let it go</i></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>That perfect girl is gone!</i></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>Here I stand</i></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>In the light of day</i></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Let the storm rage on,</i></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The cold never bothered me anyway!</i></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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<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. He was a
charming black man with tribal tattoos, piercings, and a mysterious
past. They made an unlikely pair, but somethin</span></span>g 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.<br />
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Passionate and protective, Truth also proved violent and abusive<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">. 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></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;">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>
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<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>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Memoir</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/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>
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<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>
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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.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-3878028253039898229.post-2002967637935306122014-10-29T11:30:00.000-04:002014-12-09T06:02:21.784-05:00Kimberly Shursen on Being Stuck & Having a Secondary Plot @KimberlyShursen #WriteTip #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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Help! I’m Stuck in the Middle and I Can’t Get Out</b></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By Kimberly Shursen</span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">, </span>Author of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Itsy Bitsy Spider</i>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Hush,</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Lottery</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ever
get to the middle of writing your book and didn’t have a clue what to
do next? You’ve set up the story; you’ve described the characters, the
scenery, the wallpaper in the kitchen, and now what? You’re excited to
write that unbelievable ending you already have conjured in your head,
but how in the world are you going to get there?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Answer: resolve the issue<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>before</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>you start staring at those intimidating blank pages on the screen.</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Have a secondary plot. By this I don’t mean a separate plot, but one that weaves nicely into your story. Using my novel<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>HUSH</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>as
an example, there is Ann and Ben’s life, and then there’s Ann’s lawyer
Mac McConaughey’s story. The plot remains focused on the main
characters, however, Mac and his wife Jazz’s life is a secondary
heart-warming storyline readers can identify with.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></li>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When you’re stuck, think of the
most pivotal moments of your life; the birth of a child, a challenging
life hurdle you’ve finally succeeded in overcoming, or the feeling of
finally letting go and falling in love. Bring these pivotal moments to
life in your characters. Set the platform in the first few chapters of
your book and you will have a beginning, a middle, and an end that,
although cliché, will wrap up into one sweet little package. Never write
a chapter that doesn’t have substance or doesn’t move the story
forward. Each single word, sentence, and chapter needs to have meaning;
so no cheating filling in with drawn out dissertations of the scenery.</span></span></li>
</ol>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I never place my novels in one
city as it’s just too much fun to travel via the net. It is important
that my characters and the places they live or travel not become
redundant. In<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>HUSH</i>,
there are three cities I visited in cyberspace. How do I do this? Just
as a couple of examples, I use images, descriptions of buildings and
restaurants, and neighborhood overviews found in personal travel
documentations, along with studying the official websites of the city. I
do a ton of research so that if anyone who lives in these cities or
neighborhoods happens to read my book, they would think I’d been there
not just once, but several times. The bulk of<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>HUSH<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>was
set in Minneapolis, and even though I lived in Minneapolis for many
years, I still had to check out the facts. How many miles around is Lake
Minnetonka where Mac’s wife Jazz lived? How far was it from Dinky Town
where Ann lived to the courthouse? Where are the prestigious
neighborhoods in Minneapolis? Which suburbs are the poorest? Mileage
from one place to the next takes me to Mapquest.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I took<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>HUSH</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to
Lake Geneva, Switzerland was when I really had to dig deep into the
bowels of the net, close my eyes and envision not only the Jet d'Eau
that surges 459 feet above the lake, but the Swiss Alps, and the
peaceful inlet of water that borders this quaint, wealthy city.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Don’t
be afraid to reach the middle; embrace it. If you’ve done your
homework, and set up your storylines, there will be nothing to fear when
you proudly present your baby to the public.</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 style="font-family: inherit;"> - </span>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>
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Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-30303137490518458732014-10-15T09:30:00.000-04:002014-10-15T09:52:58.717-04:00Craig Staufenberg on Not Over-managing the Creative Process @YouMakeArtDumb #SelfPub #MG<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;">
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How to Meet Deadlines and Remain Sane</b></span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
simplest strategy is to not set deadlines. This is very easy when
you’re writing the book for yourself and plan on self-publishing. It’s
hard to let a deadline drive you crazy when it’s not there in the first
place. Though then you may run into the creeping dread and anxiety that
comes from not having a clear idea of when the project will be done. Or
even if the project will be done. It’s easiest to not set deadlines when
you’re sure that you’re going to finish the thing—which you can only be
sure about if you have experience finishing projects in the past.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A
better model— you can set a longer hard-limit deadline for the end of
the project, and then avoid creating any little ones. For example, you
can say you want to have your book done in a year. When one year passes
after starting the project, you’re done, and you release the best
version of what you have. Then you just let the year proceed without a
lot of micromanaging of your schedule, or draft completion, or any other
smaller deadlines and milestones. Once again, this relies on some
understanding that you’re actually going to be able to finish the
project, and that you’ll work on it throughout that year. Not a huge
problem when you really love the project, the characters, the story, and
you feel compelled to make the thing. And then, as long as you have a
hard end to the project, you can float around inside that time and feel
certain it’ll get done.</span></span></div>
<div class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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 class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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;">This
is my preferred method. I don’t like rigid structures and tight
deadlines. Other people do. Other people perform great by managing
everything down to the week or day or hour. For me, over-managing the
creative process and setting too many deadlines for myself makes me tone
deaf to my natural working rhythms. I will trick myself with my set
schedule, and I will complete every deadline the night before it’s due.
Maybe if I didn’t have that schedule in place I would have completed
that phase of the project three days earlier. But that deadline sticks
in my head, so instead of following my drive to work on that phase
before it’s due, I tell myself “I have until Sunday” and then I swallow
my interest in working on the project then and there, and end up putting
it off till right before midnight on Sunday.</span></span></div>
<div class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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 class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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;">All
of this is a fancy way of saying I like to work on my projects when it
feels right to work on them. As long as I keep the project top-of-mind
and continue to daydream about it—and journal a little bit on it
daily—then I’ll have an accurate feel when I’m ready to make a push and
when I’m not. But if I set a firm schedule, I end up working when the
schedule wants me to and not when I, and the project itself, want to put
in a few hours.</span></span></div>
<div class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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 class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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;">This
is a personal thing. A personality thing. If it sounds like mayhem to
you, then you should have a more ordered way of producing your work. And
if you’ve never finished a project before, then the external stressors
of timelines and deadlines and milestones could be very useful for you.
But if you, like me, don’t fit into that style of working, then know
this—it isn’t necessary. It’s a shame that most people who write books
and articles about how to “get things done” tend to be very organized,
disciplined, hardline, schedule-the-process-to-the-minute sort of
people. Not because they’re necessarily better at getting things done,
but because they’re much more likely to write a book on the subject.
This creates a bias where we think these people have all the answers for
everyone.</span></span></div>
<div class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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 class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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;">They
don’t. Plenty of people get lots of things done while putting only the
lightest reins on themselves. And lots of us both prefer how that
freedom feels,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>work
much better without external or internally imposed restraint. By
accepting that about ourselves, we finish more projects, we produce
better work, and we enjoy our lives more, than we would if we tried to
fit a strict system. So I suppose the secret to not losing your mind
over all these deadlines is simple—know yourself, know how you get
things done, and honor that. More often than not that means being easier
on yourself, rather than forcing yourself into a tighter cage.</span></span></div>
<div class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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 class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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;">And
as a passing note—if you’re worried that you won’t finish your project
if you don’t have a jailer on your back, then I’d suggest you might not
like this project (or writing in general) as much as you think you do.
The easiest way to stay sane while completing a project in a reasonable
amount of time is only working on projects that you love, and working on
them doesn’t feel like a burden.</span></span></div>
<div class="Normal1CxSpMiddle" 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>
<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>
<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;">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 & 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>
<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;" 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/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>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000;" 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 – Middle Grade</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000;" 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" data-mce-style="color: #000000;" 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/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>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000;" 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>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>
<div align="center" data-mce-style="color: #000000;" 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://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-3878028253039898229.post-75603666146969468562014-09-13T12:30:00.000-04:002014-09-17T21:20:56.032-04:00Sipping Tea Flavoured Coffee with Ronald Hughes #Fiction #Dystopian #GoodReads<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;">One
of the favorite things for commercial creators these days is to portray
writers in coffee houses tapping away at their tablet or dumb-phone
creating the great American novel or some such thing. Personally I
don't know any serious typist, writer or otherwise, who would even
remotely consider typing on either a tablet or dumb-phone. I mean that
is like beating your fingers against concrete. “Touch” typing, despite
the name, has nothing to do with how solidly one hits the keys. Those
of us who type fast or learned on manual typewriters (okay, I understand
kids today have no idea what a manual typewriter is) have some force in
our fingers. I've been known to cook a cheap keyboard in under six
months. I know of others who gladly pay north of $100 for a mechanical
wired keyboard because their fingers go numb using a soft membrane
keyboard.</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;">What
is perhaps the biggest falsehood of the commercials is that writers
drink coffee. I've never met one. I come from the IT side of life so I
drink Mt. Dew or iced tea. Coffee in all its forms is just plain<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>nasty</i>.
I won't even mention what people's breath smells like after they take a
swallow. I can't imagine having to breath the air in a coffee shop for
hours on end. I'd rather take my chances with the visible air in
Beijing. We will not mention what a growing number of people consider
coffee the beverage of, but it is a category nobody wants to join.</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
real life thing which is most offensive is being forced to purchase
tea, especially iced tea, from a place which also sells coffee. Most of
the people who work there seem to be coffee, or as it was so eloquently
called in that wonderful television series Sanctuary, “brown mud”,
drinkers. When told they have to brew a container of iced tea they will
simply dump out the coffee grounds, toss in some tea bags, and use the
same brewer to brew the liquid they sell as tea. It isn't tea. It is
tea flavored coffee and it is disgusting!</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;">What
brings this post to mind is car shopping yesterday. I was at one of
those “immerse the customer” dealerships yesterday. They seem to be the
new trend in car dealerships. A small food court, play room for the
kids, comfy chairs with multiple televisions, etc. All designed to get
the customer in the habit of spending time in the dealership. I looked
around while waiting and noticed quite a few writers typing away on
netbooks and notebooks, nobody was typing on a tablet. Since this was a
dealership in the Portland area I imagine the ratio of writers to
regular Joes and Janes was a bit higher than many other cities due to
the large creative arts community.</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;">Since
I was there to empty my pockets on a new ride I left the trusty netbook
behind. Caffeine addictions must be fed, however, even if one isn't
busy typing. I took a chance. I walked up to a food counter and
ordered a glass of iced tea. It was with some trepidation that I took
my first sip. I was pleasantly surprised and informed the old guy
behind the counter. I didn't call him an old guy to his face of
course. If he reads this and tells me to look in the mirror I will take
no offense. His response was an even greater surprise. “No, we don't
brew tea in anything that's been near coffee because what comes out
isn't tea.” It shouldn't come as a shock I bought my car 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/johnSmith.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;">“John
Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars” is one big interview.
It is a transcript of a dialogue between “John Smith” (who, as the
title of the book implies is the last known survivor of the Microsoft
wars) and the interviewer for a prominent news organization.</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/John-Smith-Known-Survivor-Microsoft/dp/193973200X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a> & <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/john-smith-roland-hughes/1102176003?ean=9781939732002" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">B&N</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 – Dystopian Fiction</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 – PG</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/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-author=Roland+Hughes&search-alias=books&text=Roland+Hughes&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;">
<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://johnsmith-book.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-70oxuHXvWgcvombsi9GJmpfL5eA" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://johnsmith-book.com/</a></b></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-43611965835521258902014-09-12T07:00:00.000-04:002014-09-17T21:25:22.815-04:00Storm Without End (Requiem for the Rift King) by RJ Blain #AmReading #BookClub #Fantasy <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;">“Why have you come here?” the man asked in the trade tongue, the words clipped, harsh, and grating to Kalen’s ears.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Passing
through,” he replied, careful to keep his voice quiet and his tone
even, like he did when soothing a wild or unruly animal.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“With
no horse? With no pack? Your clothes aren’t from here. We don’t wear
such symbols,” the man replied, moving closer. The tip of the sword was
lifted. “We’re far from the trade road. Only raiders, outlaws, and
beasts come this way. Which are you?”</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kalen
reached up, touching the cloth crossing his chest. The sigil, crafted
of black silk and embroidered in silver and gold thread, was in the
shape of a winged serpent. Had he been wearing it when the serpent had
bit him? If he had been in the city of Blind Mare Run, he would’ve worn
his sigil as a sash. Had he been on the trails? He couldn’t remember.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Which
are you?” Kalen challenged, stealing glances to both of his sides when
he could without losing sight of the man before him. The rain and the
groaning of the trees masked too much sound. The other men were out
there, but Kalen wasn’t certain of where they were.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
disadvantage could get him killed. He could only hope that their sight
was as hampered as much as his, and that their muscles were also cold
and stiff.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fervent obsession lit the stranger’s eyes. “We’re those who will bring you to justice.”</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I
am no Danarite,” Kalen said in the Kelshite tongue. Hatred ran thick
between the lands of Danar and Kelsh. Few Kelshites learned Danarite,
and fewer Danarites learned Kelshite. He jerked his chin at his left
shoulder and his empty sleeve. “Do I look like a raider? Or a beast? I
have broken none of your laws.” He took one step back, then another,
until the bark of the tree bit at his back through the material of his
tunic.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>~Truth,~</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>a
voice whispered. It was a sound, but Kalen didn’t hear it with his
ears. It was a voice — a woman’s voice — but it resonated within his
mind. It was meaning, intent and thought rather than spoken word.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kalen
shivered. Hearing voices in his head was the last thing he needed. Was
the last vestiges of his sanity finally slipping away?</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If
the Kelshite also heard the voice, there was no indication of it. “The
beast was here. It led us to here. To you.” Rage contorted the man’s
features. “You lie.”</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Beast? What be—” Kalen sucked in a breath through his teeth and swallowed back his words as the man leaped forward.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Hareth, wait!” someone — a man — shouted.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rain whipped off of the blade as it was thrust at Kalen’s chest.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kalen
dove out of the way. The mud sucked at his feet and legs. The bark tore
at his tunic, scratched at his back, and slowed him. Steel grazed his
arm, and a pained hiss slipped out from between his clenched teeth. The
blade bounced off the tree trunk and showered him with bark.</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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then the tip of the weapon rose, arcing to strike Kalen down as he fell.</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;">
<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;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/StormWithoutEnd.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/StormWithoutEnd.jpg"><img alt="StormWithoutEnd" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-29551" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/StormWithoutEnd.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/StormWithoutEnd.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;">Kalen’s
throne is his saddle, his crown is the dirt on his brow, and his right
to rule is sealed in the blood that stains his hand. Few know the truth
about the one-armed Rift King, and he prefers it that way. When people
get too close to him, they either betray him or die. The Rift he rules
cares nothing for the weak. More often than not, even the strong fail to
survive.</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;">When
he’s abducted, his disappearance threatens to destroy his home, his
people, and start a hopeless and bloody war. There are many who desire
his death, and few who hope for his survival. With peace in the Six
Kingdoms quickly crumbling, it falls on him to try to stop the conflict
swiftly taking the entire continent by storm.</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;">But
something even more terrifying than the machinations of men has
returned to the lands: The skreed. They haven’t been seen for a thousand
years, and even the true power of the Rift King might not be enough to
save his people — and the world — from destruction.</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;">Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GI7C0QG?tag=booaremag-20" href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GI7C0QG?tag=booaremag-20" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre - Fantasy</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" 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>Rating – PG - 13</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" 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>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/RJ-Blain/e/B00EA5VH6M/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/RJ-Blain/e/B00EA5VH6M/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 RJ Blain on <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/RJ-Blain/121746651191778?ref=hl" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/RJ-Blain/121746651191778?ref=hl">Facebook</a> and <a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/rj_blain" href="https://twitter.com/rj_blain" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-62725920524008576672014-09-06T09:00:00.000-04:002014-12-20T03:20:37.555-05:00Scott Moon on Writing Intimate Scenes in #SciFi @ScottMoonWriter #AmWriting #WriteTip<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US">The Best Advice</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">At the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc., 2013, Patrick Rothfuss (bestselling author of <i>The Name of the Wind </i>and <i>The Wise Man’s Fear</i>) suggested writing sex scenes can be difficult. Someone asked, “How do you know when a scene is too much.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Rothfuss
said when the reader can tell the author was touching himself or
herself while creating the scene, it’s probably too much.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">If
I remember correctly, this was something he had heard before, so I
don’t know if I can quote him, but the point remains valid. In science
fiction, the expectations differ from that of a romance or erotic novel.
Breaking the rules can alienate or even offend readers. Ultimately,
each scene must do a job. If a dash of something beyond the genre-wall
is needed, then it must go in.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US">A Humble Example</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">To
date, I have not attempted to write erotica, but some of my stories
have moments, ahem, that are more adult than others. To compound the
risks I took in this novel, one of the genre-testers comes on page one.
Here is the opening line from an early draft of Enemy of Man:</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">KIN
ROLAND left Laura’s house hung-over, well sexed, and feeling dirty. He
was bound by few rules on this planet, but the most important was to
avoid drinking with Laura Keen.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US">An Editor Put on the Brakes</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">My
editor thought this risked giving the reader the wrong idea. Unable to
completely abandon the scene I envisioned, I rewrote page one many
times. Here is the result:</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">HEROES
weren’t sealed in space caskets and launched into the void—not while
they were still breathing. Kin shuddered. Memories came at night; they
came with regrets, fears, and nightmares only a man buried alive could
understand. Heroes destroyed the enemy. Heroes saved the day and died
before they could wear medals or explain what it was like to shed the
blood of millions.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span lang="EN-US">This room is too dark</span></i><span lang="EN-US">.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Kin
needed to go outside and look at the sky, but the wormhole song, the
distant groaning of a universe unraveling, reminded him of
Hellsbreach—gunfire, plasma bolts, and nuclear explosions on the
horizon. Better to dream of Becca, though she was the reason he
volunteered for the campaign.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">“Stop thinking of her,” Laura said.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Kin
sat up in bed, dropped his feet to the floor, and watched her drift
back to sleep. Her chest rose and fell, a silk sheet accentuating her
curves. Her eyes began to move under her eyelids.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">“You
don’t even know who she is.” He ran a finger behind Laura’s ear and
down her neck until she giggled in her sleep. He smiled. “I can share
anything with you in moments like these.” He slowly pulled the sheet
lower and she didn’t stir.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Laura
would like the game—exposing her skin to the night air and staring
until she sensed his attention and awoke, but he stopped, reaching to
cup the side of her face instead. Lust didn’t mix well with the darkness
still in his mind.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">“I’d fail again, given the same choice. Could you commit genocide, Laura?” he asked.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">“Hmm?”
She struggled to open her eyes, it seemed, but pushed him clumsily away
with one hand as she rolled onto her stomach, twisting the sheets as
she moved.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">“I still love her. You know that, right?” Kin said.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Motionless
on the bed, Laura seemed not to breathe. The wormhole that dipped into
the atmosphere quieted. Silence spread across the planet. Sea birds
called to each other and waves gently touched the beach.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Let’s Talk about</span></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">This
may not be a classic love scene, but is an example of something
different from most science fiction I’ve read. The boundaries between
genres seem to fade with each passing year. It’s a good thing. Like most
writers, I read far and wide, and hope some of it finds its way into my
stories.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">I’d
love to hear comments and discussion on breaking genre boundaries.
Please recommend books I may not have considered, but might like to
read. And, as always, I’m active on twitter at
https://twitter.com/Scottmoonwriter.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US"><img src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/enemyOfMan.jpg" /></span></span></div>
<h2 style="background-color: white; font-size: 30px; line-height: 40px; margin: 10px 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Lost Hero</span></h2>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Changed
by captivity and torture, hunted by the Reapers of Hellsbreach and
wanted by Earth Fleet, Kin Roland hides on a lost planet near an
unstable wormhole.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When a distant space battle propels a ravaged Earth
Fleet Armada through the same wormhole, a Reaper follows, hunting for
the man who burned his home world. Kin fights to save a mysterious
native of Crashdown from the Reaper and learns there are worse things in
the galaxy than the nightmare hunting him. The end is coming and he is
about to pay for a sin that will change the galaxy forever. </span></div>
<h2 style="background-color: white; font-size: 30px; line-height: 40px; margin: 10px 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Books</span></h2>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Enemy
of Man: Book One in the Chronicles of Kin Roland was written for fans
of military science fiction and science fiction adventure. Readers who
enjoyed Starship Troopers or Space Marines will appreciate this genre
variation. Powered armor only gets a soldier so far. Battlefield
experience, guts, and loyal friends make Armageddon fun. </span></div>
<h2 style="background-color: white; font-size: 30px; line-height: 40px; margin: 10px 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Movies</span></h2>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If
you love movies like Aliens, Predator, The Chronicles of Riddick, or
Serenity, then you might find the heroes and creatures in Enemy of Man
dangerous, determined, and ready to risk it all. It’s all about action
and suspense, with a dash of romance—or perhaps flash romance. </span></div>
<h2 style="background-color: white; font-size: 30px; line-height: 40px; margin: 10px 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
From the Author</span></h2>
<div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks for your interest in my novel, Enemy of Man. I hope you chose to read the book and enjoy every page. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have already read Enemy of Man, how was it? Reviews are appreciated! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Have a great day and be safe.</span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Enemy-Man-Chronicles-Kin-Roland-ebook/dp/B00DAIQO9A?tag=booaremag-20" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Science Fiction</i></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – R</i></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Scott-Moon/e/B0082VIWL8/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <b>Connect</b> with Scott Moon on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/scottmoonwriter" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/Scottmoonwriter" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-4278550351670387052014-08-29T11:00:00.000-04:002014-09-21T20:38:21.838-04:00#Excerpt from THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ICE by @TheobaldSprague #AmReading #Climate <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One
of the main objectives for the trip and documentary was to come away
with a fairly precise understanding as to the state of environmental
affairs. I’m sorry to say that in this I failed. But I have an excuse.
The heft of Mother Nature’s intentions was introduced to us far sooner
and to a much larger degree than ever anticipated and became a very
large part of our daily lives. By the time we got to The Passage, the
scope and aim of the trip was simply to finish in one piece. The time
planned for interviews and casual observations had turned into a race
against the seasonal clock and we had to be satisfied with the few
interviews that we got. Quickly the story of the trip changed focus from
overview and observation to not getting hampered by the elements.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To
have missed some planned interviews and time spent among the various
communities in exchange for surviving the ordeal was fine with me.
There’s a saying that in the 1800s, those hearty souls who took a
stagecoach journey across the United States started off with great
excitement and anticipation of all that they would see and encounter. By
the end, they were just happy to reach their destinations alive. Never
was it as true as with our trip to and through the Northwest Passage
that summer.</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
second area I wanted to investigate and learn from was the potential of
commercial shipping through The Passage. What I learned from those I
interviewed was more focused and defined compared to their beliefs on
global warming. While some small commercial shipping does currently
exist and some more will certainly start up, all of whom I spoke with
felt that the large-scale supertanker-type of shipping would never
happen.</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 told that when the area is frozen, perhaps more than three-quarters
of the year, it provides not only migratory routes but ice roads as
well. To one extent or another, all of the communities from the smallest
fishing camps to larger ones like Cambridge Bay depend on these ice
roads in and out of their area. Any interest in larger commercial
shipping would meet great resistance.</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
Northwest Passage is, for the most part, an uncharted area. When we
were able to take soundings in some locations, the bottom would be ten-
feet deep, then drop to perhaps a hundred feet, then come back up again
to ten feet, all in the stretch of perhaps a quarter-mile.</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
my feeling—as well as that of many of those who live in the Nunavut
Territories—that if commercial concerns want to use this shortcut
between the two major oceans, there would have to be extensive surveying
and dredging to accommodate their needs, perhaps negating some of the
immediate profits to be found. In dealing with the ice, shipping will
find it to be completely unpredictable and each year it would present
its own grave challenges.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Without
the promises of immediate profits, I don’t see these concerns to have a
large concentration span. Again, these are just my thoughts based on
observations by the few who live up there and are by no means steeped in
feasibility studies and corporate research.</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
area that doesn’t seem to grab the headlines as much as global warming
or potential shipping, but to me holds a far more frightening potential
for disaster, is that of the natural resources to be found in and around
The Passage.</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
exploration of lucrative natural resources just under the surface is
something that I feel could destroy one of the most delicate and
pristine ecosystems on our planet. There are five Arctic powers vying
for dominance: Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and the United States.
Unlike Antarctica, there is very little paperwork in place delineating
which nation has what claim to which area. Far too complex to try to
break down in this writing, suffice it to say it’s a bit like the Old
West, all trying to stake a claim via interpreting antiquated laws and
rulings to their benefit.</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/TheOtherSideOfIce.jpg" /></span></span></div>
<div id="postBodyPS" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: center;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A sailor and his family’s harrowing and inspiring story of their attempt to sail the treacherous Northwest Passage.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sprague
Theobald, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and expert sailor with
over 40,000 offshore miles under his belt, always considered the
Northwest Passage–the sea route connecting the Atlantic to the
Pacific–the ultimate uncharted territory. Since Roald Amundsen completed
the first successful crossing of the fabled Northwest Passage in 1906,
only twenty-four pleasure craft have followed in his wake. Many more
people have gone into space than have traversed the Passage, and a
staggering number have died trying. From his home port of Newport, Rhode
Island, through the Passage and around Alaska to Seattle, it would be
an 8,500-mile trek filled with constant danger from ice, polar bears,
and severe weather.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What
Theobald couldn’t have known was just how life-changing his journey
through the Passage would be. Reuniting his children and stepchildren
after a bad divorce more than fifteen years earlier, the family embarks
with unanswered questions, untold hurts, and unspoken mistrusts hanging
over their heads. Unrelenting cold, hungry polar bears, and a haunting
landscape littered with sobering artifacts from the tragic Franklin
Expedition of 1845, as well as personality clashes that threaten to tear
the crew apart, make The Other Side of the Ice a harrowing story of
survival, adventure, and, ultimately, redemption.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(<b>TO WATCH THE OFFICIAL HD TEASER FOR “The Other Side of The Ice” [book and documentary] PLEASE GO TO:</b> <i><b>VIMEO.COM/45526226) </b></i></span></span><br />
<br />
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Ice-Treacherous-Negotiating-ebook/dp/B008QD8OTC/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1396289433" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Memoir, adventure, family, climate</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Rating – PG</i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<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=Sprague%20Theobald&search-alias=digital-text" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">the author</a></i></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <b>Connect</b> with Sprague Theobald on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheOtherSideoftheIce" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/TheobaldSprague" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="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.spraguetheobald.com&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2-hqap-1OaYQfgpmkVVaj6tZwQK7A" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.spraguetheobald.com</a></b></span></span></div>
</div>
Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-65764383580655428892014-08-27T12:30:00.000-04:002014-10-24T12:28:28.542-04:00Anna's Secret #Excerpt by @MargaretWestlie #HistFic #Mystery #BookClub<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">Angus
trudged toward home after accompanying Sam to his own gate. The moon
had risen and the countryside around was a shifting panorama of shadow
and light. Presently he reached his own gate and stood for a moment
gazing across the fields that were his farm. It’s a shame that this
land’ll likely grow up in trees when we’re gone. I regret not having a
son. I have no one to leave my property to, and the fields that I
stopped farming two years ago are already going back to woods. I had
thought to leave it to young Donald, him being my closest relative after
Ian, but I don’t know anymore, the way he’s behaving. The gate clicked
shut behind him and he started down the lane, his pace quickening as he
caught sight of the soft glow of candle light from his kitchen windows.
He could picture Mary there, darning a sock or hemming a winter shirt
for him and humming one of the old songs, and he felt warmed by it. He
slipped quietly into the candle-shadowy kitchen and stood for a moment
watching her work. She sensed his presence and looked up from her
mending, and smiled.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">“You’re home, then,” she said with satisfaction. </span><span lang="EN-CA">…</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">Mary looked at him keenly. “What’s troubling you?”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">Angus
met her bright gaze. “I was just thinking about all the unhappiness
that Anna’s death has caused us, and we’re no nearer to finding out who
did it than the day it was done.”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">“Did you see Ian this evening?” Mary picked up her work again.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">“No,
but I saw the work of Donald, and it wasn’t good.” The chair squeaked
as Angus shifted his position. “D’you know that young rascal paid Little
Rory and James tuppence each to tie up Catherine’s cats together by the
tails and hang them over the clothesline?” Indignation filled his
voice. “The poor beasts were that frantic by the time I got there to
free them! They’ll never be the same again.”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">“Oh,
dear-o! And she always made such pets of them. They were like her
children. She’d have them in the house and everything. She’ll be
heartbroken if they were hurt. </span><span lang="EN-CA">… </span><span lang="EN-CA">I wonder where Donald got four pence to give away? I didn’t know Ian paid him.”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">“Well,
that’s just it, where did he get the money? I’m wondering myself if I
should tell Ian about this. He’s got enough to contend with now. What
d’you think, Mary?”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">Mary
considered this in silence for a few moments, her hands idle in her
lap. “It’s true enough that he’s got his hands full, but he can’t remedy
the situation without all the facts. I don’t think it would be a
kindness to keep this from him. It may be something that needs nipping
in the bud. Donald may be heading for some real trouble that perhaps
could be prevented if his father knew.” She took up her mending again,
and settled her glasses more firmly on the end of her nose.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">Angus
looked across at her as she bent her grey head to her task, her
work-roughened hands always so capable, neatly hemming a patch on his
trousers that would make them serve another year. A great love for his
wife filled his heart and he leaned over and kissed her wrinkled cheek, a
rare expression of caring from an undemonstrative man. “You’re a good
and wise woman, Mary,” he said.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA">She smiled back at him. “And I’m married to a good man.”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="Bodyparagraph" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-CA"><img src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/annasSecret.jpg" /></span></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-3878028253039898229.post-18003868910059791952014-08-14T07:30:00.000-04:002014-08-20T09:05:11.953-04:00The Galatia Series by @CDVerhoff #AmReading #SciFi #Fantasy <div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<b><i>In
this excerpt from chapter two, in the middle of the night Josie has
been shaken awake by a loud rumble. It’s happened before, so she’s only
mildly concerned. Unable to get back to sleep, she shuffles has shuffled
off to the kitchen for a snack:</i></b></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
As
she sat at the kitchen counter, spooning pudding into her mouth, the
bowl on the counter started to vibrate. Dishes rattled in the cupboard.
Knickknacks fell off the shelf. Another tremor?</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
There
had been dozens of them over the last two years. Sometimes the damage
was a big deal, but most of the time everything was back to normal
within a few hours. Last week, a tremor had caused the entire facility
to go offline for two days. Nobody was allowed to shower. The
temperature hovered around fifty degrees. No videos to watch, no
computer games to play, no ebooks to read. Horrible. No way did she want
to live through that again. The lights blinked on and off again,
leaving her suspended in darkness with a chocolate pudding in her hand.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
“This is not good.”</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
Alarm bells began to ring throughout the facility.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
The
sound of people running down the public corridor made her drop the
spoon on the floor. She flung open the front door. The sound of chaos
instantly increased tenfold. Dim emergency lights cast everything in an
eerie blood red glow. Entire families were running down the hallway,
dressed in heavy clothing, carrying their emergency backpacks, fear
etched across their features.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
“This
can’t be for real,” she whispered. Her bladder wanted to faint. Her
sister lived in the pod across the hall. Its door swung open and there
was her brother-in-law, Dante Armstrong, standing there in his boxer
shorts. Dante was of African descent—somewhere near Ghana was all he
knew. Until just now, she had never seen him without his shirt. His
impressive height and muscular build made him an imposing-looking man.
His five-year-old son, Nicholas, stood behind him and peeked around his
father’s hip, while Dante held three-year-old Shasta on his hip.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
“Do you know what’s going on?” Josie yelled across the hall. “Where’s Jo?”</div>
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“She was called to an emergency meeting a few hours ago.”</div>
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“Mom was too.”</div>
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“Jo
just called me,” Dante spoke rapidly. “She said this is the big one.
The bunker has split in two and there are hundreds of secondary
fissures. It’s total chaos below. The main control room is on fire and
the entire city could crumble at any second.” His words were like
ghostly punches to the gut, taking her breath away. “They’ve done
everything they can, but it’s not going to be enough. She’s going to
meet us at the main hatchway.”</div>
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The acid taste of bile coated her throat. She took a step back into the pod where things used to make sense.</div>
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“We have to evacuate,” Dante said.</div>
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“To where?”</div>
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“The surface.”</div>
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“We’ll die up there,” Josie said.</div>
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“We’ll die down here.”</div>
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Josie shook her head vigorously, retreating further into the pod.</div>
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“Jo
made me promise to get you out of here.” Dante’s eyes were sympathetic,
but his voice strained with impatience. “I’ll carry you over my
shoulder if I have to.”</div>
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She’d
debate the matter more, but Dante was the kind of man who meant what he
said. If she refused to leave, he would stay, putting himself and his
children in grave danger.</div>
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“Okay,” she said, feeling weak all over. “I’ll go, but let me grab a few things first.”</div>
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“I’ll give you three minutes,” he said. “I need to get a few things, too. We’ll go up to the Pringle exit together.”</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PromisedLand.jpg" href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PromisedLand.jpg"><img alt="PromisedLand" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-30580" data-mce-src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PromisedLand.jpg" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/PromisedLand.jpg" height="200" style="border: 0px; cursor: default;" width="130" /></a></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: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
The
last survivors of the human race are riding out nuclear winter in an
underground bunker when disaster strikes. Forced to the surface
centuries ahead of schedule, what they find blows their minds. Who can
explain it? Two social misfits work together to unravel the mystery.</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: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
After
living in a posh underground shelter his entire life, Lars Steelsun is
plunged headfirst into a mind-blowing adventure on the surface of the
Earth. As Lars and his displaced bunker mates are led across the
grasslands by Mayor Wakeland, a man of questionable sanity who claims to
talk with God, they discover a primitive world where human beings are
no longer welcome. Even more mystifying is the emergence of new senses
and abilities from within. Learning to use them has become a priority,
but his biggest challenge comes from the vivacious Josie Albright. Her
lust for glory is going to get them both into trouble. Sparks fly when
her gung ho ways clash with his cautious personality. Can they overcome
their differences to find love and a homeland for their people?</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: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
<i>May not be suitable for younger readers. Contains mild profanity, sexual situations (infrequent), and violence. </i></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: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.3em; orphans: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">
Buy Now @ <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Promised-Land-Galatia-Novel-Series-ebook/dp/B00FGFYOCY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390053869&sr=8-1&keywords=Promised+Land%3A+A+Galatia+Novel&tag=booaremag-20" href="http://www.amazon.com/Promised-Land-Galatia-Novel-Series-ebook/dp/B00FGFYOCY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390053869&sr=8-1&keywords=Promised+Land%3A+A+Galatia+Novel&tag=booaremag-20" target="_blank">Amazon</a></div>
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<i>Genre - Epic Fantasy</i></div>
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<i>Rating – R</i></div>
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<i>More details about <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/C.-D.-Verhoff/e/B009989JGU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" href="http://www.amazon.com/C.-D.-Verhoff/e/B009989JGU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1" target="_blank">the author</a></i></div>
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<b>Connect</b> with C. D. Verhoff on <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/C-D-Verhoff-Author/106424996172224" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/C-D-Verhoff-Author/106424996172224" target="_blank">Facebook</a> &<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a data-mce-href="https://twitter.com/CDVerhoff " href="https://twitter.com/CDVerhoff">Twitter</a></div>
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Quality Reads UKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216387289293473067noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-54780906786239287422014-08-13T12:00:00.000-04:002014-10-30T09:22:45.924-04:00Richard Parry's #WriteTip for Defeating Procrastination Demons @TactualRain #WriteTip #Thriller <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Breakfast was a mash of overly bright post-dawn light and harsh jarring sounds. He’d choked back some dry white toast, using black coffee syrupy with sugar as a chaser. After he kept that down, he brushed his teeth twice before leaving the house, jacket slung over his shoulder. He was already sweating through his shirt by the time he almost made his bus, watching it pull away from the stop as he rounded the corner.</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 driver of the next bus was a man sitting proud behind the wheel, stamping with binary control at the gas and brake pedals, lurching and cursing his way through the crowded morning streets with nausea inducing irregularity. The only blessing was that no one wanted to sit next to him — even Val could smell the Bacardi sweating through his skin.</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 spent his time before his meeting surfing the Internet and drinking bad coffee and stale water. He avoided his co-workers, taking refuge in his cubicle. The office hummed with the gentle background of cloistered productivity, phones and conversations overlaying each other into white noise. All except Werner in the cube next to him; that man shouted into his phone like he was trying to raise the dead. Maybe he was — he worked the marketing angle of the project they were 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;">By the time he had his meeting with Davies, the shaking in his hands had stopped, the world returning to normal levels of brightness and colour. He was still sweating through his shirt.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Sit, Val.” Davies’ tailored suits were a thing of office legend, fitting a frame that spent a lot of time eating healthy food and doing whatever it was they did down at Gold’s Gym. He stood behind a baroque desk, a screen, keyboard, mouse, and cellphone laid out just so.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Val’s personnel file was open on the desk too, a couple pages marked with cheerfully coloured Post-its. A gold pen, Cross brand embossed on the clip, sat ready on a legal pad.</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 notes, 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;">Val shut the office door behind him and settled into a chair designed for thinner men. “Hey, Pete. Look —”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Hear me out, Val. It’s not what you think.” Davies shuffled a few of the pages of the file, as if he hadn’t already read each page twice. “You’ve been with the company a while.”</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 was a bit unexpected. “Uh, sure. Since —”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Davies held up a hand. “Almost five years. Done some good work for us. Really saved our asses in that coding war with Unisys.” He chuckled to himself, as if it was some beachhead victory they were remembering together. “Top performer three years in a row.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Val shifted a bit. The padding on the chair was worn thin, and he felt like was sitting on raw plywood with sackcloth nailed over the top. “…Right.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“There’s not really a delicate way of talking about this.” A smile that was more a grimace sat on Davies’ face. “Since Rebekah passed, well, we’ve noticed some changes.” Davies looked at Val’s gut, then picked up the Cross, tapping it on a paragraph in the file. “Fact is, we still need you.” The clock on the wall ticked by a few more seconds, the sounds of the city outside the open windows gentle. “But we need the old you. You’re a wreck —”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Hey Pete, c’mon. I crank out the code like you need. I’m the first guy to punch in every morning…”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“And the first guy to hit the Blues at lunch. After lunch, you’re back at your desk, but you’re thinking about your next drink. When was the last night you didn’t knock back even just a few?”</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 has a pint after work, Pete. Be serious. We work in computers. And our clients are assholes.” Val tried for some easy camaraderie. “Who wouldn’t drink on a government contract?”</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 not like we work in the ER, Val. And if it was the work that was the problem, we could fix that. You work in a team of what, ten guys?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yeah, and they come down for a beer at lunch too!”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“They don’t all go down. With you.” Davies examined a perfectly manicured nail. “At the same time. Fact is, they’re going down to make sure you’re ok. A few of the guys — and I’m not naming names, it’s confidential — are worried about you. They said they want to keep an eye on you. They’ve come to see me, to ask me to … intercede.”</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 a sheet from the file — this one suspiciously laid out in corporate style — and spun it on the old wooden surface towards Val. “It’s a leave form, Val. It’s on the house. But it’s got conditions.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Val didn’t lean forward to look at the form. “You’re getting rid of me. Gardening leave. I don’t know if I should be flattered or pissed 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;">Davies tapped the paper again. “Maybe you should just be… Well. I think we both know ‘happy’ is a bit of a stretch, considering. Get your house in order. Drive up the coast. See some friends.” He paused, as if the idea had just occurred to him. “Get some help, Val. See someone.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Val reached forward to get the sheet, seeing his hand shaking with either anger or the memory of the hangover. <i>Maybe a heavy salting of both</i>. The form was straightforward — a month of leave, but with a small catch.</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 company wants some return, of course.” Davies looked down in carefully constructed abashment. “We want the old Valentine Everard back. We want you a productive member of the family again. We’re going to … invest, shall we say … a few weeks. What’s a few weeks? That’s on us.” Nodding, Davies replaced his expression, looking Valentine right in the eye with an affable smile. It was like watching a super marionette, as if all those management courses had taught him which emotions to try and fake, and when. “But you’ve got to do your share. A part of the bargain.”</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 there in black and white. They’d even helpfully supplied a phone number and a website — probably one of the narcissists in HR. Those fuckers thought of everything with their saccharine sincerity. They wanted him in an alcoholics group of some kind.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“If I don’t sign?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Davies swapped the grandfatherly smile for a look of grandfatherly reproach. “Well Val, then things might have to get formalised. You know how it is.” As if it was out of his hands. Just one of the boys, Val and him in this thing together. “But we — well. I don’t want it to get formalised.” He handed the Cross to Val.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After he’d signed — <i>like there’d been a choice</i> — he walked out to collect his jacket. He felt as if the entire office watched his walk from Davies’ office to his cube, the air heavy with the silence of funerals. The hessian partitions were covered with the same old crap, charts jostling for supremacy next to Dilbert cartoons. The odd slice of fake humanity was shown with photos printed in cheap colour on the office laser — corporate functions, team building. Outside his own cube, he saw a photo of himself peeking out from under layers of project charts and productivity estimates. It was like growth rings on a tree, those layers — the closer to the heartwood of the hessian backing, the older they were.</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 remembered that shot, pulling it out. The photo showed him sprawled on the ground, the thick rope for tug-o-war draped over him and his team buddies. He’d been thinner then, the grin cracking his face one of delight.</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 probably about the time when Rebekah had first told him she was pregnant.</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/2014/03/NightFavour.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;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Valentine’s an ordinary guy with ordinary problems. His boss is an asshole. He’s an alcoholic. And he’s getting that middle age spread just a bit too early. One night — the one night he can’t remember — changes everything. What happened at the popular downtown bar, The Elephant Blues? Why is Biomne, the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, so interested in him — and the virus he carries? How is he getting stronger, faster, and more fit? And what’s the connection between Valentine and the criminally insane Russian, Volk?</span></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/B00EBNA0MU/ref=cm_sw_su_dp?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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Action, Thriller, Urban 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 – R16</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/Richard-Parry/e/B00EBQJTI8/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_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;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <b>Connect</b> with Richard Parry on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/therealrichardparry" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/TactualRain" 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 href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.rage.net.nz&usd=2&usg=ALhdy298b5_o0TqkCRTGBjb5UB4LozGGHQ" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.rage.net.nz</a></b></span></span></div>
Mickalia Peckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00019698247961366566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-83887699987280278102014-08-07T09:00:00.000-04:002014-08-08T10:37:55.912-04:00EMERGE: A Galatia #Novel (Galatia Series) by @CDVerhoff #AmReading #Fantasy <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Josie and Lars had known each other forever, but had never been more than acquaintances. Luke, however, was in her grade. Lars’s impression was that the girl wasn’t very popular at school. She was really cute though, so he didn’t understand why.</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;">“Hey, Luke, what do you think of Josie Albright?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Josie?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yeah.”</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’s super smart—wants to be a chemist—probably just so she can blow up stuff.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“What I mean is she nice, is she stuck-up, or what?”</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’s a whackadoodle.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“What makes you say that?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Josie’s not like the other girls.” Luke shrugged. “I mean, she’s into weird things.”</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 mean like her questionable taste in literature?”</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, well, that might be part of it. She actually tries to be geeky. She thinks it’s cool to be the outcast, I went to a party where she sat in the corner reading a book and smoking a cigarette, like a nerdy girly James Dean or 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;">“I’m not following.”</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 acts like the popular kids are shallow and stuck up, so they’re beneath her. But she’s being just as stuck up. Josie’s not as good-looking as Feenie or Jo, but she’s definitely an Albright—as in not ugly, so the geeks find her too intimidating to hang out with. It’s her own darn fault that she only has a couple of friends. <i>Had.</i> I think they both died in the bunker.”</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 she looks a little bit like Vivian Leigh.”</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 lady in <i>Gone with the Wind</i>?” Luke’s eyebrows arched. “Oh, man, Lars—don’t tell me you’re crushing on weird Josie Albright?”</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 not a crush exactly—let’s call it mild interest.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Mild interest.” Luke rolled onto his back, holding his belly, as he laughed. “Is that what they’re calling lust these days?”</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 heard about how she saved that little girl from the river crocs?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yeah, that was pretty cool.” Luke thoughtfully stroked his pretend mustache. “Superhero Vivian Leigh?” he teased. “Maybe I ought to reconsider my stance on dating whackadoodles.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Don’t even think about it.” Lars scowled at his brother. “If you try to steal her out from under me, I’ll be really pissed.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“If this is how you react when mildly interested in a girl,” Luke scanned Lars sardonically. “I’ll hate to see what you’re like when it’s true love.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Shut up and help me figure out if I should ask her out.”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“How are you going to take her out somewhere? It’s not like there’s a theater or a café around the next corner.”</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 maybe I could ask her on a picnic—what do you think?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Rumor has it that Josie Albright only likes girls. Short hair? Hoodies? What are we supposed to think?”</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 mean she’s a lesbian?” Lars felt his stomach sink in disappointment. “Are you sure?”</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“There’s only one way to know—ask her out, bro.”</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/2014/01/SF-covinggton-cond-Emerge-for-kindle-1.jpg" /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> The last survivors of the human race are riding out nuclear winter in an underground bunker when disaster strikes. Forced to the surface centuries ahead of schedule, what they find blows their minds. Who can explain it? Two social misfits work together to unravel the mystery.</span></span></i></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;">After living in a posh underground shelter his entire life, Lars Steelsun is plunged headfirst into a mind-blowing adventure on the surface of the Earth. As Lars and his displaced bunker mates are led across the grasslands by Mayor Wakeland, a man of questionable sanity who claims to talk with God, they discover a primitive world where human beings are no longer welcome. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Even more mystifying is the emergence of new senses and abilities from within. Learning to use them has become a priority, but his biggest challenge comes from the vivacious Josie Albright. Her lust for glory is going to get them both into trouble. Sparks fly when her gung ho ways clash with his cautious personality. Can they overcome their differences to find love and a homeland for their people?</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>May not be suitable for younger readers. Contains mild profanity, sexual situations (infrequent), and violence. </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;">Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Promised-Land-Galatia-Novel-Series-ebook/dp/B00FGFYOCY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390053869&sr=8-1&keywords=Promised+Land%3A+A+Galatia+Novel&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 - Epic Fantasy</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>
<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/C.-D.-Verhoff/e/B009989JGU/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_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 C. D. Verhoff on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/C-D-Verhoff-Author/106424996172224" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/CDVerhoff" style="text-decoration: none;">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>Blog <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://cdverhoff.blogspot.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy2_01jckNtx2of1yN47b1NhEbPVrzg" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://cdverhoff.blogspot.com/</a></b></span></span></div>
Mickalia Peckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00019698247961366566noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-56811974310264725942014-07-09T10:30:00.000-04:002014-07-10T07:46:26.770-04:00Order of Earth (Elements of Ink) by Jennifer Cornet @J_Cornet #Fantasy #AmReading The brass doors opened behind her bringing with it an unexpected guest.<br />
<br />
“I knew you’d come home.”<br />
<br />
Onyx’ heart sank hearing him speak in that gentle voice. He always used that voice when he knew he was wrong; when he was trying to make her forgive him. It felt repulsively sweet now.<br />
<br />
“She was just leaving,” Jade said in a firm tone as she turned to face him.<br />
<br />
“Nicky, you brought a bodyguard with you? That hurts,” he sounded genuinely insulted.<br />
<br />
“Goodbye, Philip.” Onyx said softly, suddenly lacking the confidence she just had.<br />
<br />
Philip reached out for her arm, but Jade intercepted the action, grabbing him by the wrist and twisting it until he let out an almost inaudible yelp.<br />
<br />
“You will not lay a hand on her. Not now, not ever again. If you so much as brush against her in a way I don’t like, I will break every bone in your body, starting with your pinky toe and ending with your skull.” She twisted just a little further.<br />
<br />
But he didn’t lose his composure. He looked Onyx dead in the eye, “Quite a lot of bark for your little Chihuahua of a friend here, huh? Nicky, we don’t need all of this. This running away, the muscle, the hiding out, we are better than this. You know I love you more than anything in the world. Just come home, baby. I need you. It’ll be different, I promise. I’ll start going to therapy like you always wanted. You can even hang out with that crayon haired one. No questions asked. Just come home. What do you say? Come on, I need you.”<br />
<br />
“Onyx, don’t you listen to him. Put the bags in the elevator, we’re leaving.”<br />
<br />
Onyx hesitated, switching her gaze back and forth between the two. He looked so hurt, so broken up, she just wanted to leap into his arms and console him. For a moment, she could feel her heart ripping in her chest; she believed him. She believed he meant he would change and things would be different. She believed it and she hated herself for it.<br />
<br />
Onyx rolled her bags into the elevator before she lost her nerve.<br />
<br />
“Goodbye, Philip.” She said again.<br />
<br />
“If you love her even half as much as you say, you’ll let us leave here. You’ll leave her alone and move on with your life. But keep the therapy bit, you need it.” Jade winked at him before joining Onyx.<br />
<br />
As Jade released his wrist, he noticed a small green marking on her arm; a very familiar mark that he knew all too well.<br />
<br />
The girls disappeared down to the ground floor, leaving Philip alone in his flower filled living room. He pulled out his phone and hit speed dial.<br />
<br />
“She’s with the Order of Earth. Find out what family, find out who their Protector is, and find out now.”<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/OrderOfEarth.jpg"><img alt="OrderOfEarth" border="0" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/OrderOfEarth.jpg" height="200" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="130" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FAQOZ6O">Amazon</a></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Genre - Urban Fantasy</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Rating – PG – 13</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ben-Woodard/e/B005J3HR1S/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">the author</a> </i></div>
<div align="center">
<b>Connect</b> with Jennifer Cornet on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JenniferCornet.Author">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/J_Cornet">Twitter</a></div>
<div align="center">
<b>Website <a href="http://www.jennifercornet.com/">http://www.jennifercornet.com/</a></b></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13798010889798059708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-89934842551065761192014-07-04T12:00:00.001-04:002014-07-04T11:44:21.407-04:00Steps Into Darkness (A Shakertown Adventure) by @BensWoodard #YA #Mystery #TBR The unknown figure’s back was to them as he connected the wires to the detonator. Will shoved Tom. Only minutes remained.<br />
<br />
They located the last connection point where the blasting caps were wired to two sticks of dynamite. The wires to the plunger snaked up the hill. The connecting strands were twisted, tightly, as with pliers. Tom snatched a rock, but Will grabbed his hand and pointed up the hill. Tom understood. The man would hear the pounding. They each took a twisted connection and tried to pry it apart with their fingers. They would need to break only one.<br />
<br />
The wires resisted. Tom gritted his teeth, then remembered his pocket knife. He pulled it out, flipped the blade open, and wedged the tip between two strands. He twisted and the blade snapped. The sound startled the man. He whirled around and stared directly at the boys. Tom forced the broken blade into the gap in the wires. Will put his finger on top of one and pulled as Tom twisted. Blood ran down Will’s hand as the metal bit into his finger. They strained, and watched the man. His eyes darted in all directions. Then he made his decision. He pulled the plunger up, hesitated a moment, and slammed it down.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/StepIntoDarkness.jpg"><img alt="StepIntoDarkness" border="0" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/StepIntoDarkness.jpg" height="200" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="130" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EKB5YAG">Amazon</a></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Genre - YA/Mystery</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Rating – PG – 13</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ben-Woodard/e/B005J3HR1S/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1">the author</a> and <a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/2013/12/steps-darkness-shakertown-adventure-ben-woodard/">the book</a> </i></div>
<div align="center">
<b>Connect</b> with Ben Woodard on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/benswoodard">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/benswoodard">Twitter</a></div>
<div align="center">
<b>Website </b><a href="http://booksbyben.com/">http://BooksByBen.com</a></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13798010889798059708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-67950116866015076332014-07-02T08:30:00.000-04:002014-07-03T00:46:43.799-04:00Devolution by Peter Clenott @PeterClenott #YA #AmReading #GoodReads<br />
<b></b><br />
Chiku couldn’t help stare at the large bulge that was Rebecca’s baby-to-be. It made her reflect upon the gynecological exam Dr. Kessel had just given her. At sixteen, she couldn’t imagine being anyone’s mother, except maybe a chimpanzee’s. Rebecca was only fourteen, an eighth grader back home, a middle schooler. How could she be a mother? Yet even in wealthy well-educated America girls in their mid-teens were getting knocked up all the time, having their babies, and changing their lives in ways unpredictable and permanent. Not Chiku. Boys could go to hell.<br />
<br />
“When was the last time you saw him?” Chiku asked.<br />
<br />
“Two week. Three week. He ask me how my baby doing. I tell him, fine. He give me twenty francs. He always give me money.”<br />
<br />
“And that was it?” Chiku gazed at Tim who was still holding all of the things she had given him from her buried stash. “What about Dr. Fisher? Do you know why he’d be in my dad’s house?”<br />
<br />
Rebecca dipped her head in thought then gave out with a startled grunt as the baby inside her gave a hefty kick. “Soon,” she said, “Any day my Abasi.” Then she staggered against Chiku.<br />
<br />
“You okay? Maybe she’s coming out <i>now</i>.” Chiku was aghast.<br />
<br />
“No. No. He. Not yet. No water.”<br />
<br />
“Well, you can’t stand here. You have to sit, Rebecca. In the shade.”<br />
<br />
Chiku pulled the pregnant girl into the cooler cover of the banana tree. “You want water? Something to drink?”<br />
<br />
Rebecca leaned against the tree rather than risk getting herself into a position from which she couldn’t rise. She panted, holding a hand against her belly, Chiku watching that hand move not of its own volition but due to the child inside raring to get going with life.<br />
<br />
<i>Not for me</i>, Chiku thought.<br />
<br />
Rebecca said, “I okay.”<br />
<br />
“You’re sure?”<br />
<br />
“When the water break, then we know.”<br />
<br />
“Know what?” Chiku asked.<br />
<br />
“That the baby is coming,” Tim said. He placed his hands on his friend’s shoulders. They were trembling as if she were the one about to go into labor. “Honestly, Chiku, what do they teach you in Brookline, Massachusetts?”<br />
<br />
“How to avoid reality.”<br />
<br />
Chiku took Rebecca’s hand. It was cool and sweaty and on her ring finger she was wearing something that looked awfully familiar to Chiku. “Nice,” she said. “Amethyst. My color. My ring, actually. How’d you get it?”<br />
<br />
“Your father give me.”<br />
<br />
“Cool. It matches your dress.”<br />
<br />
Chiku didn’t care that it was an old ring, one that she had either lost or forgotten some distant time in the past and that probably couldn’t even fit her fingers anymore. She just wondered why her father would have given this particular girl this particular ring.<br />
<br />
“I think they kill him,” she said.<br />
<br />
“What?” Chiku’s eyes darted from the purple colored ring to the black face of the Hutu teenager.<br />
<br />
“They were <i>mad</i> mad.”<br />
<br />
“Who?”<br />
<br />
“Fisher. Your father. Dr. Kessel. They all mad. And the others.”<br />
<br />
“What others?” Chiku asked. “Does Colonel Fundanga know?”<br />
<br />
“Colonel Fundanga <i>one </i>of them,” Rebecca said. “I keep quiet. Bad enough in the camp. I don’t want to die.”<br />
<br />
Rebecca let out a long breath, took in a deep mouthful of air, and let out her discomfort once again. Then she smiled at Chiku before saying, “They come for you next. You his daughter.”<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Devolution.jpg"><img alt="Devolution" border="0" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Devolution.jpg" height="200" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="130" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Devolution-ebook/dp/B00E8OCRGY/">Amazon</a> & <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/PeterClenott">Smashwords</a></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Genre - Young Adult</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Rating – PG</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Clenott/e/B001JP0SAC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1">the author</a> and <a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/2013/12/devolution-peter-clenott/">the book</a> </i></div>
<div align="center">
<b>Connect</b> with Peter Clenott on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Peter.Clenott.1">Facebook</a> & <a href="http://twitter.com/PeterClenott">Twitter</a></div>
<div align="center">
<b>Website <a href="http://www.peterclenott.net/">www.peterclenott.net</a></b></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13798010889798059708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-15873731443310599352014-07-02T07:30:00.000-04:002014-07-03T00:43:05.821-04:00The Last Finesse by Brian Bloom @BrianB_Aust #Thriller #AmReading #BookClub‘Gramps wasn’t around anymore. Successful industrialists don’t have time for their daughters. My mother had her hands full with the boys. Teenagers crave attention. That’s all I was doing. It turned out I was quite normal. I finally grew up. Sports were helpful.’<br />
<br />
He was as intrigued with her as ever. ‘What kind of sports?’<br />
<br />
‘Gymkhana horse riding, till I was 15, and then some board surfing, on the odd occasion, and then, more recently, board sailing. I love to be at one with nature.’ She flicked back her hair and looked up at the sun.<br />
<br />
‘So,’ he said in response, ‘we both know how to ride a horse – that’s a start isn’t it?’<br />
<br />
‘Yeah,’ I guess so, she replied, ‘but I’d rather play golf.’<br />
<br />
‘I’d be delighted if you’d play with me,’ he stated enthusiastically. ‘What did you do when you were “finished” at that “finishing school” of yours?’<br />
<br />
‘I’ve told you,’ she answered: ‘my old man wanted me “barefoot and pregnant” in the kitchen next door – he thought it was time I settled down. We had a hell of a fight, but I had Guido on my side, and my mother finally came to the party and supported me.<br />
<br />
‘I enrolled in a journalism course at Texas U, in Austin. I did quite well. My old man finally acknowledged my existence by coming to my graduation ceremony. And then our relationship became an armed truce, when I “informed” him I’d decided to go out on my own.’ Using her index and middle fingers, she drew quotation marks in the air, around the word “informed”.<br />
<br />
‘That wasn’t his idea of how a good Italian woman should conduct herself. I basically told him, “Go fuck yourself!”, but I used more diplomatic language – as they taught me at finishing school. He finally came to realise he’d been a failure as a father, and backed off. From time to time, he still dangles my trust fund in my face, in the hope he can make me see reason and live my life according to his paternal script.’<br />
<br />
‘Right,’ Luke acknowledged. ‘And your mother?’<br />
<br />
‘Mum died when I was 20, a week before my 21st-birthday party. That rug was also pulled out from under me, and it was the last straw, as far as I was concerned. That’s when I moved to San Francisco to start living my own life properly.<br />
<br />
‘That’s also why I wanted to know your views about gay marriage. Like Sydney, San Fran’s got a large gay community, and I’m lucky enough to have a lot of gay friends.’<br />
<br />
His ‘naughty streak’ surfaced again. ‘And if you come to live in Australia among the “large gays”?’<br />
<br />
She smiled, but was clearly fixated on wrapping up her story. ‘Some of them might miss me.’<br />
<br />
‘Did you struggle to get a job?’<br />
<br />
‘No,’ she answered, ‘not really. A few doors were opened to me because I topped my class and was the daughter of Louis Marchetti.’<br />
<br />
Luke imagined the opening doors, and indulged in a quick fantasy about banging his boys up against her open doors . . . ‘So,’ he remarked, ‘he wasn’t entirely a waste of rations . . . Hang on a second: did you just say you <i>topped your class</i>?’<br />
<br />
She had a palpable air of relief that she’d finally told her story. ‘Look, Luke, he’s not really a bad guy; it’s just he’s been hanging on to his old values in the modern world. I’m convinced that somewhere deep inside him, he’s just as sad as I am that we don’t have a relationship. I’m his only daughter. Maybe, if you and I finally get together, it’ll serve as an ice breaker.’<br />
<br />
‘You <i>topped your class</i>?’ he persisted.<br />
<br />
‘Yes,’ she replied, with a trace of impatience. ‘So what?<br />
<br />
He considered his next question. ‘Can I ask you something personal?’<br />
<br />
‘Sure,’<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/The-Last-Finesse1.jpg"><img alt="The Last Finesse" border="0" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/The-Last-Finesse1.jpg" height="200" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="130" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Last-Finesse-Brian-Bloom-ebook/dp/B00873GSQC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384319915&sr=1-1&keywords=the+last+finesse+-+brian+bloom">Amazon</a></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Genre - Conspiracy Thriller</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Rating – MA (15+)</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Brian%20Bloom&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank">the author</a> and <a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/2013/12/last-finesse-brian-bloom/">the book</a> </i></div>
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<b>Connect</b> with Brian Bloom on <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianB_Aust">Twitter</a></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13798010889798059708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-60259555655562757612014-06-28T08:00:00.000-04:002014-07-01T17:27:07.907-04:00Cast in Blood (Morgan Blackstone) by Michelle Rabe @michrabe #Paranormal #Fantasy <h3 align="center">
NEW ORLEANS SEP 4, 2009</h3>
The Assassin’s voice boomed through the closed double doors to the study for the fifth time since he’d entered the room with Morgan’s Blood Sons, almost five hours before. Marcus cringed as the doors were flung open, and Nicholas strode out, rage radiating from every inch of his six–foot, four–inch frame. Storm–gray eyes landed on Marcus, narrowed to slits, and he stalked past, commanding him to follow with an imperious wave of his right hand. Not wanting to piss the Assassin off more, Marcus bit back a snide comment, and followed him up the sweeping staircase to the mansion’s upper floors.<br />
<br />
“Damn it all to hell, Old Man!” Nicholas roared as he began pacing the landing at the top of the stairs. He wanted Marcus to throw himself against his temper to take the edge off.<br />
<br />
<i>Ye Gods</i>, Marcus thought, <i>we’ve done this more times than I’d care to count in the centuries we’ve known one another, but this is different. Well, something other than the fact that we’ve barely spoken a civil word to one another in almost two hundred years.</i><br />
<br />
“I take it the boys couldn’t add anything to what we already knew. In spite of the almost five hour interrogation?” Marcus asked, fighting to rein in his own temper, leaning against the banister at the top of the stairs.<br />
<br />
“Five hours?” Nicholas stopped moving. He turned to Marcus, meeting his eyes. The other vampire nodded. “It was really that long?”<br />
<br />
“Yes. What’s next, Assassin?” Marcus asked, letting some of the frustration he felt give his voice a hard edge. The last thing they needed right now was for Nicholas to go soft.<br />
<br />
“We can’t do anything before the sun sets,” he said, after giving Marcus a long, appraising look.<br />
<i>He’s assessed my well–being and decided I’m not fit for the field. I’ve seen that look too many times before and know better than to argue with him</i>, Marcus thought, trying to work out a logical counter argument.<br />
<br />
“I haven’t slept.” Nicholas sighed. “You look like death warmed over and those two are rattled.” He nodded toward the room where he’d left the younger vampires.<br />
<br />
“Fine.” Marcus nodded. “I took the liberty of having my staff get us some SUVs. If Morgan’s alive, she’s going to need fresh blood. We’re going to need the extra room.” Marcus was almost certain that he didn’t have to mention that, but the desperate look in Nicholas’s eyes led him to believe that there was no such thing as being too careful in this situation.<br />
<br />
“She has to be alive, Marcus.”<br />
<br />
“We’ll find her.” Marcus answered, feeling like an ass for lying. <i>We both know that the odds suck. This could be nothing more than trying to find her body. Gods, whoever did this is going to pay.</i><br />
“I have a very bad feeling about this,” the Assassin muttered, looking through Marcus. Nicholas’s mind was turning over what he knew, making connections and searching for others.<br />
<br />
“How so?” Marcus asked, prompting Nicholas to think aloud, knowing it helped him make connections he otherwise missed, and it gave Marcus the opportunity to make a few as well.<br />
<br />
“The security footage Danny sent over from the club’s parking lot shows Morgan and her attackers, but never their faces.”<br />
<br />
“The club has cameras outside?”<br />
<br />
“Apparently one of the human staff had some trouble right after the club opened. Morgan had them installed after that.”<br />
<br />
“They could have scoped out the cameras. Not too difficult when you know what to look for,” Marcus muttered, his brows drawn together. “Why didn’t anyone see her being attacked, if it was caught on camera? Why are we just learning about this now? Just because she somehow jacked my mind and knocked me flat on my ever–loving ass.” Marcus’s words sped up as he continued, agitation given voice.<br />
<br />
“The footage is stored on massive hard drives but not reviewed unless an incident is reported. Since no one reported her disappearance…” Nicholas’s voice trailed off.<br />
<br />
“I have a feeling Morgan will be revising that policy when she returns.”<br />
<br />
“If she returns.”<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Michelle-Rabe.jpg"><img alt="Michelle Rabe" border="0" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Michelle-Rabe.jpg" height="200" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="130" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cast-Blood-Morgan-Blackstone-Michelle-ebook/dp/B00HB08AGI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1387221613&sr=8-2&keywords=Michelle+Rabe">Amazon</a></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Genre - Paranormal Urban Fantasy</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Rating – PG-13</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Michelle%20Rabe&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank">the author</a> and <a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/2013/12/cast-blood-morgan-blackstone-michelle-rabe/">the book</a> </i></div>
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<b>Connect</b> with Michelle Rabe on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Michelle-Rabe/247098858763273">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/michrabe">Twitter</a></div>
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<b>Website <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://paperbackvamp.tumblr.com/&usd=2&usg=ALhdy28MowzqhL6rHdRwN9HLpOuR2VkTqw">http://paperbackvamp.tumblr.com/</a></b></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13798010889798059708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-82779663389247118852014-06-25T09:30:00.000-04:002014-06-26T04:56:51.159-04:00Fool for Love by Merry Farmer @MerryFarmer20 #Romance #Historical #Fiction The <i>Majestic</i> rose up out of the water in its Liverpool dock with all the glory of its name. Amelia held one hand to her hat and stared at its iron sides, its two dun-colored funnels and three tall masts. The ship was a strange thing to her, a mixture of old and new, progress with hints of the past. It had sails that could be unfurled in a pinch, but with its powerful new engines, the ship could cross the ocean in a week.<br />
<br />
Seven days to a new world. It was an exact description of everything her life had become. It was<br />
every bit as daunting.<br />
<br />
“What am I doing?” Amelia whispered, staring at the hopeful monstrosity in front of her. It was one thing to accept an offer for a new life. It was another thing entirely to go through with it.<br />
<br />
She turned away from the ship, swallowing the nausea that had plagued her since she’d left her mother’s house. This time it wasn’t morning sickness. That was long past. At the moment, the baby was the least of her worries. Her stomach rolled over the idea that she was about to board a ship heading for a new life at the mercy of a stranger, a man, no less. The last time she had trusted her life and her future to a man had been a disaster.<br />
<br />
She paced, purse clutched to her chest, scanning the busy dock in search of her American savior. Men, women, and children crowded the gangplanks, eager to start their journeys, excited and hopeful. Many of the third-class passengers carried bundles that indicated theirs was a one-way trip as much as hers was. Eric had left her there to go buy her ticket, but there was nothing stopping him from running off and leaving her stranded. Like her father. Like Nick. She was a fool to agree to this. She pivoted and marched away from the ship.<br />
<br />
No, she stopped herself after a handful of steps, this was the best decision she could have made. She may have felt small and lonely standing by herself, waiting, heart and stomach fluttering, but she was as much a part of the intrepid adventurers seeking a new life in America as any of her fellow passengers. This was right.<br />
<br />
Maybe.<br />
<br />
“Well, we got a minor problem on our hands.”<br />
<br />
The twang of Eric’s accent shocked Amelia from her worries. She spun to face him as he approached her with wide strides, scratching his head and looking as guilty as a schoolboy.<br />
<br />
“A problem?” she asked, voice fluttering.<br />
<br />
“Yeah. I went to buy you a ticket, but they’re plumb sold out.”<br />
<br />
Amelia’s chest tightened and her tender stomach lurched. “Oh. Oh dear. Well I suppose….”<br />
She lowered her eyes, heart aquiver. As quickly as it started, her chance for a new life was over. All that worrying for nothing.<br />
<br />
She squared her shoulders to face her fate. “I … I thank you for your efforts on my behalf regardless, Mr. Quinlan.”<br />
<br />
Eric’s brow crinkled into a curious frown. “Regardless?”<br />
<br />
“I suppose I could find work here in Liverpool,” she explained. “Surely there must be a shop somewhere that would look the other way from….” She lowered her hand to the mound of her stomach.<br />
<br />
Eric’s lips twitched. The morning sunlight caught in his eyes. “I didn’t want to have to put you in third-class, so I told them you were my wife.”<br />
<br />
Amelia blinked. “You what?”<br />
<br />
“I told them we’re newlyweds. I reserved my stateroom in first class last year when I came over. Good thing I paid for it then too, ‘cuz after this fiasco of a trip I’ll never ride first-class again. Anyhow, when they said they didn’t have any more rooms, I told them you were my wife and that we would be staying in the same stateroom. They sold me a ticket for that.” He handed her a fresh, clean ticket with her name written as ‘Mrs. Amelia Quinlan’. “Sorry.”<br />
<br />
Amelia held perfectly still on the outside, but on the inside her heart pounded and her stomach rolled with guilt for questioning him. He wasn’t abandoning her. He had gone out of his way to help her. Her heart squeezed as it never had before. She took the ticket from him with a trembling hand, hardly noticing when her fingers brushed his. She was rescued after all.<br />
<br />
“Thank you, Mr. Quinlan. You have no idea how much this kindness means to me.” She had to concentrate on breathing, standing straight, and looking up into his handsome eyes with a smile to keep her tears at bay.<br />
<br />
“You don’t mind sharing then?” he asked her.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/FoolForLove.jpg"><img alt="FoolForLove" border="0" src="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/FoolForLove.jpg" height="200" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="130" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
Buy Now @ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CFO4G5O">Amazon</a></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Genre – Western Historical Romance</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>Rating – R</i></div>
<div align="center">
<i>More details about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Merry-Farmer/e/B006RATLFC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1">the author</a> and <a href="http://www.orangeberrybooktours.com/2013/12/fool-love-merry-farmer/">the book</a> </i></div>
<div align="center">
<b>Connect</b> with Merry Farmer on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/merryfarmerauthor">Facebook</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/MerryFarmer20">Twitter</a></div>
<div align="center">
<b>Website <a href="http://merryfarmer.net/">http://merryfarmer.net</a></b></div>
Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13798010889798059708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878028253039898229.post-42528976301721254502014-06-24T08:00:00.000-04:002014-10-07T13:12:26.187-04:00LICHGATES (Grimoire Saga) - Book 1 by S.M. Boyce #Excerpt #Fantasy #MustRead <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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Spring 2013 Rankings</b></span></span></div>
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<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>
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<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>
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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;">Kara Magari is about to discover a beautiful world full of terrifying things: Ourea.</span></span></div>
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<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>
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<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>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Welcome to Ourea, where only the cunning survive.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Novels in the Grimoire Saga:</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Lichgates </i>(#1)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Treason </i>(#2)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Heritage </i>(#3) – Available Fall 2013</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Illusion </i>(#4) – Available Fall 2014</span></span></div>
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<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>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Genre – Fantasy</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 href="http://www.amazon.com/S.M.-Boyce/e/B005WL2N8O" style="text-decoration: none;" 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 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>
Mickalia Peckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00019698247961366566noreply@blogger.com0