Thursday, April 18, 2019

Book Feature: The Guild Saga Series by John Joseph Doody


THE GUILD SAGA Series by John Joseph Doody, Scifi/Fantasy


Title: THE GUILD SAGA: THE WONK DECELERATOR (Book 1)
Author: John Joseph Doody
Publisher: eTreasures Publishing LLC
Pages: 131
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy


For Earthers dwelling in Guild space, it is a one-hundred year journey back to Earth. An unimaginable voyage, until now.

When Guild commander and crack pilot, Thad Cochran boards the shuttle destined for the casinos of Timmerus, finding a way back to Earth is not on his radar. He wants the five-percent finder’s fee the Guild is offering for a black box held by the lizard-like Yazz. Thad has a dream: With the loot he will get for stealing the Wonk Decelerator, he can buy a ranch on Beta Prime.

But things begin to fall apart for him in the dark caverns of Timmerus, and Thad must reconsider his priorities in life. Has he discovered a cause greater than his dream? Are there actually more important things to life than money and his dream? What about the woman who is waiting for him? What about freedom in the galaxy? And what about his discovery, fashioned by the gnarled hands of a brilliant, old Yazz, that could change everything?

Thad Cochran has a choice to make. He can fulfill his quest, escape with his life and be rich. Or he can fly with the Wonks … one more time.

ORDER YOUR COPY:

______________________





Thad opened his eyes, aware of a sense that the murky sun was dropping on the horizon. He panicked momentarily until he realized he still had a half hour before the prearranged confab with Maggie. 

He headed for the bathroom to change into darker clothes for the journey. The bathroom had Thandimonean stone flooring, golden faucets and a huge commode one nearly needed a ladder to get up on. 

Thad rubbed his face and ran his tongue over his teeth. He might as well clean up while he was in here. He stripped, broke out his toothbrush and was busy about his business when he heard a creaking hinge. 

He stepped out of the bathroom in his skivvies, toothpaste frothing in his mouth. 

"Commander Cochran." 

He heard the voice, glanced at the open door, but saw no one. 

"Yeph?!" he gurgled, toothpaste spraying everywhere as his voice took on a falsetto tone. 

"I’m up here, silly boy." 

Thad looked up, and his heart tried to jump out of his gullet. The woman, the one he had seen in the space port 

and had suspected of being a droid, crawled across the ceiling like a spider chasing after a bug. How she managed to cling, upside down, her head twisted a hundred and eighty degrees and looking directly at him, was a repulsive mystery to him. 

Oh, you’re a droid all right! 

He had never seen a Mandroid capable of walking on ceilings. This droid’s techno was impressive and scary. 

"You should go back to your people, Commander Cochran," she said, as she crawled down the wall, her head twisting again, cracking and popping back to its original position. 

He knew there was no sense in trying to get away, or in trying to fight with this droid. She was too fast, too strong. He had no weapon to use against her, and worst of all, he was in his underwear. 

Thad swallowed his toothpaste. 

Once on the floor, she meandered over to him and, with a critical expression, eyed him from head to toe. She was beautiful, but she smelled of a peculiar blend of perfume and something like burnt rubber. 

"There’s only death waiting for you here on Gar Mega. Go back, Commander, before it’s too late." 

With that, she walked stiffly from the room, leaving the door open. Thad wasted no time, sprinted to the door, locked it and leaned against the wall, his legs trembling beneath him. 

She’s probably got a key that pops out of her finger or something. I know I locked that.




 

Title: THE GUILD SAGA: THE LATE, GREAT BENJAMIN BALE (Book 2)
Author: John Joseph Doody
Publisher: eTreasures Publishing LLC
Pages: 370
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy


The destinies of two men depend on Maggie Thorn. One is dying and the other is dead…or is he?
Captain Maggie Thorn is on a formal Guild mission, supposedly to kidnap the yazz scientist, Gravian Endrenicus, and return him to Thandimone. But she also has a personal score to settle with the lizard-like inhabitants of Timmerus. She intends to make the yazz pay for what they did to Thad Cochran—the one the yazz call the Thieves Guild pilot. The man she loves.

Supreme Fleet Commander, Admiral Geoff Grangore knows of only one man who could get Maggie to Timmerus and back while traitorous eyes are watching. That man is an old drunk who lives deep in the Thandimonean wilderness with his pet Eno, Snot. Benjamin Bale is suicidal and cantankerous, and Maggie can’t stand him—at first.

Bale is a dead man. At least, that’s what everyone was told. But this dead man has a final mission to perform. The greatest star pilot in the galaxy has a chance to redeem himself and make right a great wrong. A wrong which he can never forgive or forget. A wrong that cost him everything.

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Title: THE GUILD SAGA: RETURN OF THE CRIMSON WITCH (Book 3)
Author: John Joseph Doody
Publisher: eTreasures Publishing LLC
Pages: 407
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

The Bashtier call Wonk space, Eerindark—The Place of the Dead—and Thad Cochran, the only pilot to go there and live, will soon find out why. The sacrifice of Benjamin Bale brings Thad back from the dead. But is he truly free from the death grip of the Wonks?

A body is discovered behind an apartment wall in a small town on the planet Daggon. With the mystery thrust upon him, Admiral Geoff Grangore must pursue a dangerous quest for the truth—is it somehow connected to The Wonk Decelerator?

Dreams and visions are dancing in the heads of the yazz. Something bad is coming to the frontier—a hidden enemy only the Guild traitor, Alexander Hamilton Patho knows.

Patho sends an assassin to Daggon and his conniving gaze is on the M-3 Wonk vessel. It seems civil war is imminent and those who control the power of Wonk travel will rule the known galaxy. Therefore, it must not fall into Patho’s hands.

It is time for war, and time for Maggie Thorn to learn the truth about who she really is. It is also time for The Return of the Crimson Witch.

ORDER YOUR COPY:

______________________







I earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Coral Ridge University and Seminary, as well as an M.A. in Political Science from George Wythe College. My first publication was a short story, TELEPIO 690, which appeared in Sidetrekked Magazine, Issue #48. My other publications are, my first novel (actually a novella), THE WONK DECELERATOR, my second novel, THE LATE, GREAT BENJAMIN BALE, my third novel, RETURN OF THE CRIMSON WITCH and a fourth mini-book, a prequel to the Guild Series, THE DAUGHTER OF GETH, which is available only in ebook. I am currently working on a science fiction/horror novel, THE DARK. One of these days I might even finish it.
Happily, I have a wife and four children and live in Florida.
Website Link: www.johndoody.com
Twitter Link: @johnjosephdoody
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/authorjohnjosephdoody/


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A Few Words with Regency Romance Author A.S. Fenichel




A.S. Fenichel gave up a successful career in New York City to follow her husband to Texas and pursue her lifelong dream of being a professional writer. She’s never looked back.
A.S. adores writing stories filled with love, passion, desire, magic and maybe a little mayhem tossed in for good measure. Books have always been her perfect escape and she still relishes diving into one and staying up all night to finish a good story.
Multi-published in historical, paranormal, erotic and contemporary romance, A.S. is the author of The Forever Brides series, the Everton Domestic Society series, and more. With several books currently contracted, A.S. will be bringing you her brand of edgy romance for years to come.
Originally from New York, she grew up in New Jersey, and now lives in the Southern Missouri with her real-life hero, her wonderful husband. When not reading or writing she enjoys cooking, travel, history, puttering in her garden and spoiling her fussy cat. 
Website Link: http://asfenichel.com
Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/asfenichel
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/A.S.Fenichel
 
Click below to sign up for her newsletter!


Title: A LADY’S VIRTUE
Author: A.S. Fenichel
Publisher: Lyrical Press/Kensington Books
Pages: 225
Genre: Regency Romance

BOOK BLURB:
Can a broken engagement ignite the spark of true love?

Sylvia Dowder had almost made it to the altar when her fiancé unexpectedly became a viscount, and dropped her like a stale crumpet to make a more “suitable” match. Though Sylvia’s heart has been crushed, her spirit has not. She puts her wits and social savvy to use as a secret gossip columnist—and as the Everton Domestic Society’s party planner to the ton. Luckily, she’s not in danger of ever falling for an aristocrat again…

Especially not one like Anthony Braighton, Earl of Grafton. Raised in America, Anthony sees no reason to marry when he can enjoy all the perks of being an eligible earl. Determined to convince his family he doesn’t need a wife, he hires Sylvia to act as hostess and decorator for upcoming parties. Yet Sylvia is as adept at captivating his interest as she is at beautifying his home. And despite this Everton lady’s aversion to titled men, some attractions can’t be denied—and love rarely does go where it’s told . . .

ORDER YOUR COPY:


 https://www.amazon.com/Ladys-Virtue-Everton-Domestic-Society-ebook/dp/B07DZJW3NC





I’d like to know more about you as a person first.  What do you do when you’re not writing?

Well, we just finished building a house and moved in, so that has taken up a lot of my time. When moving and house projects aren’t the main focus, I love to garden, read, cook and travel. Not necessarily in that order.

When did you start writing?

I was a late bloomer. I didn’t start writing until my late 20s, though I always told stories.

As a published author, what would you say was the most pivotal point of your writing life?

I tried to get published for many years without success. When I remarried and my husband wanted to move south, I made him a deal. If I could stay home and just work on writing, I would agree to the move. It took two more years, but that’s when I finally got the call.

If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing your next book, where would that be and why?

It would be wonderful to write Regency romance in London or the English countryside.

If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you do?

Extra time, what’s that? I think I’d be lost. LOL
I guess, I’d plot a book or read one. I find most of my reading is business related. It’s nice to read just for pleasure.

Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

Italy. I’d love to write a Regency set in Italy. The politics for the day makes it quite difficult, but I’m going to do it at some point.

Back to your present book, A Lady’s Virtue, how did you publish it?

A Lady’s Virtue is book three in the Everton Domestic Society series. Kensington Books contracted four books in this series.

In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for research?
I have been to England many times, but I didn’t make a special trip for this book. I hope to go back some time soon.

Why was writing A Lady’s Virtue so important to you?

The Everton Domestic Society is the perfect vehicle for my smart sassy women of Regency London to thrive. I wrote the first book, A Lady’s Honor as part of a healing process. I lost my first husband and needed to express the pain of losing a spouse. It took me many years to gain the courage to write it.

A Lady’s Virtue brings back two characters who began life in the Forever Brides series. They’ve been nagging me for years to tell their story.

Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that is?

Two places: Long drives in the car and when I walk alone. I think the ideas in the car come from random conversation with my husband. He has a totally different take on the world, and it’s always interesting to hear his perspective. The walks, I think it’s because blood is flowing and no one is talking. Random bits of creativity have a chance to filter in.

Any final words?

Thanks so much for having me here today. I hope you all love A Lady’s Virtue as much as I do.
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Book Feature: Moments That Made America by Geoff Armstrong


MOMENTS THAT MADE AMERICA by Geoff Armstrong, American History, 254 pp., $18.95 (paperback) $9.99 (Kindle)


Title: MOMENTS THAT MADE AMERICA: FROM THE ICE AGE TO THE ALAMO
Author: Geoff Armstrong
Publisher: History Publishing Company
Pages: 254
Genre: American History


From its geological birth during the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent millions of years ago, through the nation-shaping key events that led to its political independence from the British superpower, and other crucial, sometimes miraculous events that worked to create the nation, Moments That Made America: From the Ice Age to the Alamo explores those defining moments, both tragic and inspirational that profoundly shaped the nation and its people – crucial turning points that worked inexorably to mold and make America. These pivotal “tipping” events formed America’s geographical, sociological, political and historical landscape. Part 1 culminates with the discovery of gold in California and the role it played in fulfilling America’s dream of Manifest Destiny.

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Excerpt from Chapter Three: The Road to Revolution

            On the 19th of June, with twelve hundred men and officers, the British army began its march. Braddock’s forces moved slowly, building roads as they advanced. By the 8th of July, Braddock had arrived within 12 miles of Fort Duquesne. Typical of British thinking concerning military action in North America, Braddock failed to send out scouts or set up advance guards. In splendid European-style formation, their bright scarlet uniforms glowing in the summer sunshine, Braddock and his men moved against the French Fort. Washington had spent time in the region and knew it well. He understood the style of fighting they would have to face and recognizing the danger, he tried to persuade Braddock to set up proper security, but Braddock, suffering from what turned out to be terminal arrogance, ignored Washington’s experience and advice.
            At about noon they crossed the Monongahela River. The road on which they now marched led through a valley and along two concealed ravines covered with trees and deep grass. What Braddock didn’t know, thanks to his haughty refusal to employ scouts, was that the ravines concealed 600 Native American warriors and 250 French soldiers all armed and waiting.
            As soon as the British reached the ravines, the woods in front of them erupted with musket fire as the French and their Native American allies unloaded their weapons into the British. Stunned by the unexpected attack, the leading British troops were hurled backward into their advancing rear units, throwing Braddock’s regulars into hopeless confusion. Disorganized and gripped with fear, hammered by volley after volley of musket fire from directly ahead and then from their flanks, the British struggled to fight back as their legendary discipline began to falter.
            The first discharge of musket fire had targeted the officers and many had already fallen. Several times the British rallied and at one point succeeded in killing the French commander. That seemed to act as a signal to the Indians. They threw themselves at the British.
Now panic-stricken and disorientated, ignoring the commands of the few remaining officers, the British regulars huddled together in small groups, firing ineffectively into the surrounding trees and bushes. Protected by the ravines and trees, the French and Indians continued to target the officers.
            The only troops who retained any hint of common sense were the Virginians. As soon as they realized whom they were fighting, they ignored Braddock and used the colonial fighting tactics they had learned from the Native Americans.
            Washington’s conduct during the battle was exemplary. He refused to huddle in terror, as so many of his fellow officers did, vainly hoping to escape the death that flourished all around them. At six-foot-four and on horseback, he was the most conspicuous officer and the most conspicuous target in the entire British expedition. Witnesses describe him as riding from battered group to battered group, rallying his Virginians and attempting to rally the British regulars into following the example of the Virginians. Four musket balls tore through his coat and two horses were shot out from under him. Inexplicably, nothing touched him.
             Finally, Braddock was shot through the lung and carried from the field. He later died of his wound.
            Washington, though he was relatively far down in the chain of command, displayed the leadership for which, he would someday become famous. He was able to enforce enough discipline to form a rear guard and allow what was left of the British expedition to retreat.
            British losses were appalling with more than 900 dead and wounded. According to most records, only one mounted officer survived the engagement that would become known as the “Battle of the Monongahela”, but should have been called the “Monongahela Massacre”. That officer was George Washington.
            He should have died that day. Just one more unknown, low ranking colonial officer, one more casualty in a poorly executed British offensive, his name lost in the mists of history. How Washington managed to survive is beyond explanation and it was only the first of such miraculous escapes. Had he lost his life, the America we know would not exist, or if it did somehow come into being, it would certainly be profoundly different. His survival in the face of almost impossible odds also gives substantial evidence to many, that both Washington and the nation that would someday become America, were under the protection and guidance of Divine Providence.
            Washington himself recognized that his survival that day was highly improbable. A few days later, in a letter to his brother John, Washington himself wrote about this. "By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!”







 






Geoff Armstrong began his teaching career in 1965 after receiving a teaching diploma from McGill University’s Macdonald College. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Montreal’s Concordia University in 1967 where his major field of study was history. Armstrong credits writers such as Bruce Catton, and Thomas B. Costain, as well as the encouragement of his father who had little formal education, but a deep love of reading and of history, as the inspiration for his own life-long interest.

Throughout a 25-year teaching career he taught history at several grade levels and learned quickly that to reach the hearts of his students, history had to be made immediately and deeply relevant and accessible: that some event that took place centuries before those students were born had a direct and profound influence on every aspect their lives. He also learned that talking down or writing down to his students was a recipe for defeat. It is this awareness, shaped by a quarter century of teaching and countless questions by thousands of intelligent young people that has informed and shaped his writing.


You can visit his website at www.MomentsThatMadeAmerica.com.






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Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Book Review: Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim




Inside the Book:

42051103
Title: Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune
Author: Roselle Lim
Release Date: June 11, 2019
Publisher: Berkley Books
Genre: Asian American Literature and Fiction
Format: Ebook/Audiobook/Paperback


Purchasing:

Lush and visual, chock-full of delicious recipes, Roselle Lim’s magical debut novel is about food, heritage, and finding family in the most unexpected places.  

At the news of her mother’s death, Natalie Tan returns home. The two women hadn’t spoken since Natalie left in anger seven years ago, when her mother refused to support her chosen career as a chef. Natalie is shocked to discover the vibrant neighborhood of San Francisco’s Chinatown that she remembers from her childhood is fading, with businesses failing and families moving out. She’s even more surprised to learn she has inherited her grandmother’s restaurant. 

The neighborhood seer reads the restaurant’s fortune in the leaves: Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmother’s cookbook to aid her struggling neighbors before the restaurant will succeed. Unfortunately, Natalie has no desire to help them try to turn things around—she resents the local shopkeepers for leaving her alone to take care of her agoraphobic mother when she was growing up. But with the support of a surprising new friend and a budding romance, Natalie starts to realize that maybe her neighbors really have been there for her all along.




I have been fascinated by the oriental culture for many years, so when I saw this book for review I wanted to read it. 

Natalie Tan left the Chinatown district of San Francisco after a fight with her mother over her ambition to be a chef, and follow in her laolao's (Grandmother) footsteps. But, when tragedy strikes Natalie is drawn back to the world she left, and finds that her mother, while keeping secrets from her, loved her and only wanted the best for her. Being agoraphobic, her mother relied heavily on the neighborhood to help her with her life, and when Natalie comes back she isn't sure how she feels about the neighbors. After settling in and going to visit some of them, memories flood back and she realizes that she blocked out some of the most meaningful parts of her life. 

I loved the magical aspect of the book, along with the food and cooking aspect that it usually went along with. I can certainly relate to how much food can mean to memories and family, as I have many, many memories tied to food from my mother and grandmother, as well as other family members. 

One thing that I felt was a little short was the character development. While I liked all of the characters, I felt that some of them could have been fleshed out more so I could connect to them on a much deeper level. It is still a book that I would recommend, especially if you are looking for a story that is an easy read on a lazy day. 






Meet the Author:

Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood.

She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother's) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured books about mythology, which shaped the fantasies in her novels.

An artist by nature, she considers writing as "painting with words."



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Talking Books with David W. Berner, Author of 'The Consequence of Stars'


David W. Berner is a memoirist whose personal stories tell all of our stories. His memoirs reflect on our collective relationships and how those experiences link us to the world we share. From stories of fathers and sons, to road trips, travel memoir, pets, and music, David's books are mirrors of our common human experience. 

Storytelling has been a part of David's life since his days as a young boy, delivering The Pittsburgh Press newspaper. He began telling his own stories and the stories of others as a reporter for numerous radio stations, including freelance work at National Public Radio and more recently for CBS in Chicago.

David's reporting background has given birth to award-winning memoirs and novels based on his own experiences.

He has been the Writer-in-Residence for the Jack Kerouac Project in Orlando, where he was privileged to live and work at the Kerouac House in Orlando for two-and-a-half months. He later was honored with the Writer-in-Residence position at the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Home in Oak Park, Illinois.





About the Book:

THE CONSEQUENCE OF STARS is a unique and thoughtful memoir on our eternal search for home. Told in a series of essays on love, loss, travel, music, spirituality, and the joys of solitude,
memoirist David W. Berner, reaches deep to discover where he belongs and ultimately where all of us belong.
"Berner gives us both travelogue and memoir in living, breathing depth and color." --- D.S. White, Editor-in-Chief, Longshot Island

"A writer with an enormous sense of humanity." -- San Francisco Review of Books

"Reflective, engaging...Berner's authentic storytelling takes you with him on his travels through the chapters of his life where in the end, he reveals connections to finding a place to be, his home under the stars." -- Nancy Chadwick, author of Under the Birch Tree

ORDER YOUR COPY:


Adelaide Books


I’d like to know more about you as a person first.  What do you do when you’re not writing?

I am an associate professor in the Communication Department at Columbia College Chicago and I have been a journalist for many years, mainly working in broadcasting, including work for CBS radio and some freelancing for public radio.

When did you start writing?

I was in second grade. Our teacher helped us make paper mache books. We each wrote a story and she helped us produce the actual book. My book was titled The Cyclops. I was fascinated with the ocean when I was kid. I still have that book. My mother saves it. But real writing, in terms of short essays and books, came in my 40s, but I was writing news copy for years as a reporter before that.

As a published author, what would you say was the most pivotal point of your writing life?

Getting published for the first time. It validated my work. But while working on my second book, I was honored with the Writer-in-Residence position at the Jack Kerouac Project in Orlando and was allowed to live and work in Kerouac’s old house for three months. That was a marvelous experience. I wrote every day in the same room where Kerouac wrote The Dharma Bums. It was heavenly.

If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing your next book, where would that be and why?

Wow. Hmmm. I assume you mean using that place as a setting in the story? Maybe Spain. Although, I’ve been to Cuba and that would be so interesting to use Havana as a setting. But if you are talking about a great place to write, just write—hmmm—well, you know what? I think it would be Spain again, sitting in a villa on the southern coast somewhere, windows open, breeze dancing with the white curtains, late day sun, glass of wine.

If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you do?

Besides write? Walk my dog. Write music. Play guitar. Go to a long lunch with my wife. But I don’t really consider those things something I would do with “extra time”—that’s just life.

Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

I’ve written essays in my newest book, The Consequence of Stars, that take in many places where I have traveled—Paris, Cuba, The Navajo Nation, just to name some. The book is part travelogue and memoir, so “place” plays a big part. But I think it would be interesting to write a piece about somewhere deeply urban and gritty. I haven’t done that yet. 

Back to your present book, THE CONSEQUENCE OF STARS: A MEMOIR, how did you publish it?

It was a query and a submission to Adelaide Books, NY/Lisbon. I had it out to several publishers and Adelaide was the right fit.

In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for research?

I didn’t travel specifically for research, but there is a lot of travel in this book. As I mentioned—Paris, Cuba, The Navajo Nation—but I also write about time in Orlando at the Kerouac house, my hometown—Pittsburgh, Chicago, and a cross-country train trip from Seattle to Chicago.

Why was writing THE CONSEQUENCE OF STARS: A MEMOIR so important to you?

I had this gem of an idea years ago about what “home” meant to me, what it means to all of us. How do we see home? What is it physically and emotionally? How do we find it? Why do we forever seek it? And how do we do that? It fascinated me but it took some time to shape those thoughts into a cohesive theme. Once I did that, it came together in spurts, with me always remembering that the concept of home is forever in flux. This book is not a typical memoir, it is not a self-indulgent work, as some poorly thought out memoirs can be, and hopefully the reader will find it to be a shared experience, a book about me but also about all of us. 

Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that is?

Norman Mailer called writing “the spooky art.” He was right. I have no idea where ideas come from. They just surface, emerge, morph. I am not a planner, I do not outline. I just write and let the characters and the story, or the theme, come to me. It’s as if all of it works itself out through the process of writing. Spooky, right? Like Joan Didion, I believe I write to find out what I’m thinking. She said the same in so many words. It is so true.

Any final words?

I hope those who are not necessarily essay or memoir readers will read THE CONSEQUENCE OF STARS. I do believe it’s a book for all of us, something we all have in common, this concept of home. It’s part of our shared human condition. 

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Monday, April 15, 2019

Book Blast: Trinities to Enneagrams by Allen David Young - Win a $25 Gift Card



 

Inside the Book:



Title: Trinities to Enneagrams
Author: Allen David Young
Publisher: XLibrisUS
Genre: Mind, Body, Spirit/Supernatrual
Format: Ebook

As a spiritual tool and system of personality types, the new directions of the enneagram presented in this work give a clear understanding of ourselves and those who are important to us. The trinity forces within the enneagram are explained in ways that can greatly benefit people in the personal, interpersonal, and social spheres of human existence. The creation of enneagram signs is adapted from the twelve astrology signs. While enneagram types describe one’s egocentric personality, enneagram signs are given by the cosmos at birth; they are one of a kind and reveal one’s soul-centered personality. With the addition of nine signs and stages of development through the life cycle, the enneagram becomes a system in motion and reveals more of its insights. With the addition of nine enneagram letter groups from the alphabet, you can understand what the trinity and enneagram says about the personality of your name.

Purchase Here

Meet the Author:
Both of my parents moved to Berkeley from Louisiana to Berkeley, California where I was born, raised, and educated from grade school through my degrees along the way were in math, business, education, and consciousness studies. After my first 10-year career as a university professor, I spent the next six years immersed in the study of Jungian Psychology, dream work, clairvoyant development training, and occult tools. For more than three decades I have been self-employed as an intuitive counselor with over 500 clients, and for the past decade I have also served as a Centers for Spiritual Living minister.

Giveaway

Allen is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 
Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to the e-retailer of your choice
  • This giveaway begins April 8 and ends on April 19.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on April 20.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!

ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Sunday, April 14, 2019

Book Review: Happily and Madly by Alexis Bass




Inside the Book:


Title: Happily and Madly
Author: Alexis Bass
Release Date: May 21, 2019
Publisher: Tor Teen
Genre: Young Adult
Format: Ebook/Hardcover


Purchasing:

Alexis Bass' Happily and Madly is a mature, twisty, compulsively readable YA suspense novel about a young girl who embraces a fate bound in love and mystery. 

Maris Brown has been told two things about her destiny:

1. She will fall happily and madly in love.
2. She could be dead before she turns eighteen.

The summer before that fateful birthday, Maris is in the wealthy beach town of Cross Cove with her estranged father and his new family--and the infamous Duvals. Since the youngest member of the Duval family, Edison, is back from college and back in the arms of Maris’s new stepsister, her summer looks to be a long string of lazy days on the Duval's lush beach.

But Edison is hiding something. And the more Maris learns about him, the more she’s given signs that she should stay as far away from him as possible. As wrong as it is, Maris is drawn to him. Around Edison, she feels truly alive and she's not willing to give that up. Even if it means a collision course with destiny.




This is the first book that I have read by Alexis Bass, and while it held my interest until the very end, it did feel slightly rushed at the end, like she was trying to wrap up all the loose ends but only had a limited amount of pages to do it in.

Maris was a character that I liked, but there were aspects that I did struggle with. Even though the relationship between her and Edison (Finn) was engaging, but at what cost? Would she really have pursued it knowing who she would be hurting? I am a believer in love and people being drawn to each other, but I was unsure, given her past, that she would have acted as quickly and erratically as she did.

This book does have a lot of twists and turns, and the other issue I had was with the authorities in the book (won't say more so I don't ruin it) and how Maris was so easily able to infiltrate their world. 

With that said, the book did flow well, with a well written plot and well developed characters. I do think that Sepp might have been my favorite because he did seem the most real to me.

It is a book that I would recommend, and because all readers are different I enjoy reading what others views are as well.





Meet the Author:

Alexis Bass grew up in Washington, went to college in Arizona, and spent her early twenties in Seattle. She currently lives in Northern California with Dylan McKay, her gorgeous and rambunctious golden retriever. She loves good fashion and good TV as much as a good book, and is a huge advocate of the three C’s: coffee, chocolate, and cheese. LOVE AND OTHER THEORIES is her first novel.



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