Thursday, February 27, 2014

Thursday Trailer: Conception (Dominion Chronicles Book One) by K.S. Fish

Conception (Revised) (The Dominion Chronicles)


Author: K.S. Fish
File Size: 544 KB
Print Length: 235 pages
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Amazon Link

About the book:

When twelve-year old Tyler Hudgens wakes up in the courtyard, he's buried up to his neck with twenty other screaming, terrified kids. Welcome to Frazier's compound, a place where Tyler and a chosen few will unlock powers in themselves that they could only dream about. Frazier has a plan to turn them into gods, and the only price is the death of 2.5 million people. When a schism occurs in their group, they're all flung into a battle that will test their loyalties and ultimately decide the fate of the world. David "Whitey" Jones is a brand new reporter, and through chance or fate, he's given the Tyler Hudgens case, a story no one else wanted. As Whitey digs for leads, he discovers The Moby Dick of all news stories; a riveting tale of mad scientists, telekinesis, and betrayal. With his eye on the Pulitzer, Whitey dives into a whole new world that may give him everything he ever wanted; or take his life. The world's future hangs in the balance, and a new world waits in the wings, on the brink of Conception.


Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Book Review: Fairydust by Simon R. Taylor

Fairydust 

Author: Simon R. Taylor
Paperback: 640 pages
Publisher: Bluebox Publishing (November 4, 2013)
Amazon Link

Note: I received a review copy of this book free from the author, Simon Taylor. The review posted below is based on my personal thoughts while reading the book.

Ratings: ★ ★ ★ ★    

My thoughts:


Yay! Another great elven book!

The elves are slowly dying because of a crisis on water and food. Maria and Daniel set out to a quest in finding solution to this - the White Fairy! 

Liked the characters and the twists and turns. While I enjoyed the story, there are some parts I got confused due to the number of characters, can't remember who's who. The romance is enough to keep you interested and there's a bit humor too. The first time I 'met' the narrator, I thought I was reading a draft of the story (this book is an ARC) and it was a mistake that those were included in the book but oh boy, it was actually part of the story. Weird but in a good way.

Overall, it was a good story... recommended for those into elven book.

About the book:

As the elves face extinction due to a natural crisis, their belligerent king is bent on self-preservation. It falls to reluctant hero Daniel to go in search of the White Fairy – his last hope for answers and his people’s last chance for a future.

An unforgettable cast of fairy tale creatures come together in this ground-breaking epic fantasy. With never-before-seen storytelling techniques, Fairydust is packed full of ingenious, inventive layouts and concepts which reflect the twists in the rich, fast-moving plot.

Fresh from his acclaimed thriller debut End from the Beginning, Taylor once again blends heart-stopping action, gut-wrenching passion and side-splitting humour – this time held together with a sprinkling of fairy dust. Join him for a journey the like of which the world has never seen before.

About the author:



Simon lives with Anna-Marie and their daughter Megan in Renfrewshire.

Monday, February 17, 2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?




"It's Monday! What are you reading?" is a fun meme hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey. This is where we share the books we have read the last week and our reading plans for this week.

Book/s and Movie/s For Review



Loved this book! 5-stars. . . . review to post sooon!


It was soooo good. I loved most of the scenes, especially this one! 
Review will be posted shortly. . . or may be not. . Might watch this again next week. *sigh* Dimitri . . . . 


VA lovers, have you watched the movie???!!? You should!!

Currently Reading: 



Amy. Pretty, intelligent, with newly acquired superhuman skills, she lives in a historic Miami waterfront estate. She’s about to discover that isolation, youth and extraordinary abilities may not be enough when someone wants you dead…

Ready for a new kind of urban fantasy? In Unelmoija: The Dreamshifter a pretty yet ordinary young woman’s life is transformed beyond her imaginings when a traumatic incident changes her forever. An unexpected encounter with the father she never knew and a mysterious man that repels and attracts her at the same time leads her to discover she’s not who she thinks she is.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Book Spotlight: A Christmas Fling: A Magical Tale of Romance and Adventure by Beth Barany

A Christmas Fling: 
A Magical Tale of Romance and Adventure 
by Beth Barany


Print Length: 112 pages
Publisher: Firewolf Books (December 9, 2013)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

About the book:

What if falling in love put the life you cherished in jeopardy?

Dahlia, a Santa’s Elf, has 21 days left before Christmas to create the best toy in the world without using magic or revealing her true identity. Stuck on how to complete the prototype, and working as a temp in San Francisco’s financial district with no time for love, will her innocent Christmas fling get her unstuck, or will she turn her back on her beloved career for her heart?

Liam, an up-and-coming financial analyst, swore off women after getting dumped by the love of his life. He just found out his ex is going to the company Christmas party with his rival Michael Hendricks. Up for promotion against Hendricks, Liam has to win the favor of his boss. His best bet is to invite the vivacious secretary Dahlia to the party. Will Dahlia be a welcome distraction, or will she turn his life upside down?

A Christmas Fling: A Magical Tale of Romance and Adventure has received 5-stars from Amazon readers.

“A Christmas Fling is a fantastic tale of love coming at the most inopportune time...If you want a story filled with Christmas cheer and a warm, tender romance, this is the story for you.” C.A. Malone

About Beth Barany

Based in Oakland, California, Beth Barany writes magical tales of romance and adventure to transport readers to new worlds where anything is possible.

In her off hours, Beth enjoys capoeira, travelling, and watching movies with her husband, bestselling author Ezra Barany, and playing with their two cats, Kitty and Leo. 

Where to Find A Christmas Fling

A Christmas Fling on Amazon 
A Christmas Fling on Goodreads

Where to Find Beth Barany

Beth Barany’s website: http://author.bethbarany.com/
Beth Barany on Twitter https://twitter.com/Beth_Barany
Beth Barany’s Facebook Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/bethbarany

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Guest Author: Jan Porter

One Community; one spirit.

Writing Soul Skin has been the journey of a lifetime! While others were couch curled watching the telly, I was immersed in the most marvelous world of Navi’s dream journeying. 

After some 30 plus years in social services and closet writing, I am finally able to cocoon and journey those ancient magical journeys and share them with you! Post menopause myself, chuckle as you may, this old crone re-wiring Kundalini change brings phenomenal spirit world door openings, for those who go with the flow of it all. One thing I know for sure is that OM home is where the heart and soul resides; within. It is older than religion and philosophy, beyond our day to day survival pre-occupations. It is a sacred alignment with the divine, one’s self, and with each other. 

OM, God, Creator, Jedi force, divine matrix, vortex or Allah, it is that living breathing feel good divine life force that exists beyond our normal consciousness. It is what the ancients and the indigenous have always known. Whatever terminology you are comfortable with, be assured that it is a wise, intelligent and unconditionally loving force that lives within all animate and inanimate life forms. It is a force that affirms our inherent goodness, just as we are, quirks and all. It unites us all, through sisterhoods and brotherhoods, and time transcends all cultures, religions, philosophies and schools of thought.

Within each and every one of us there is a naturally evolving powerful force of self-love, honour and intuition. It is an inner wise consulting intuitive soul compass that when followed, naturally flows divine love, inspiration, passion and creativity. An individual’s spiritual journey is as unique as a fingerprint and holds no ties to one faith, path, culture, modality or era. Yet, like the mysterious powerful forces and will power that is threaded throughout Navi’s journey, it is our individual connection to our own soul and spirit that ultimately, when we open our minds and allow, makes us ‘One’ with each other and the all that is.

In spiritual growth, we come to know this divine flow as a life force and interconnectedness, where we find our own unique authentic wild nature and for many, consciously choose to forgo a traditional lifestyle, for that unchartered authentic life journey.

Each soul’s existence and unique expression adds to the beautiful tapestry of the cosmos. The ancient sisterhood shawl symbolizes that divine nurturing, sense of belonging, and timeless wisdom, that allows us to walk in harmony with the all that is, just as we are, and in harmony with each other. Across the cosmos, soul mates and kindred spirits find each other.

Life is a series of defining moments, cross roads and gateways, and as each door closes, in time, new ones open. Always, all ways; follow the heartbeat of your own soul, which is the path of most light and love. Navi is the spiritual soul seeker within each of us. 

One woman, one man is a tiny divine spark in a timeless sisterhood or brotherhood tapestry collective; all of us are Wild Women and Men.

And so it is.

Love and Blessings on your journey ~ 

Jan Porter www.inspiredsoulworks.com / www.amazon.com

Soul Skin 
1000 lifetimes, 1000 sacred dream journeys

Author: Jan I. Porter
Paperback: 586 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 21, 2013)
Amazon Link

Synopsis:

Midlife crisis Navi communes with her dead Grandmother and a mysterious soul skin man. Doomed to marital heartbreak, she clumsily follows a shamanic path; all the while coping with a child’s cancer, spirit world intrusion, church doctrine, menopause, a dark shadow nemesis, and job loss. All of these, rudely slamming her into a dark night of the soul. Sacred ancient sisterhood teachings via dream journeys ensue in a Nazi death camp, a pre-civil war deep south, early indigenous North America, and as Joan of Arc. Also, as audience with Lord Byron and as a wolf mate. Navi explores life in a thought provoking and amusing commentary of social, cultural and religious ideals, all stirring controversy. It is the love of daughter, Gran, nature and soul skin man that carries her forward.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Thursday Trailer: Soul Skin by Jan I. Porter

Soul Skin 
1000 lifetimes, 1000 sacred dream journeys

Author: Jan I. Porter
Paperback: 586 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 21, 2013)
Amazon Link

Synopsis:

Midlife crisis Navi communes with her dead Grandmother and a mysterious soul skin man. Doomed to marital heartbreak, she clumsily follows a shamanic path; all the while coping with a child’s cancer, spirit world intrusion, church doctrine, menopause, a dark shadow nemesis, and job loss. All of these, rudely slamming her into a dark night of the soul. Sacred ancient sisterhood teachings via dream journeys ensue in a Nazi death camp, a pre-civil war deep south, early indigenous North America, and as Joan of Arc. Also, as audience with Lord Byron and as a wolf mate. Navi explores life in a thought provoking and amusing commentary of social, cultural and religious ideals, all stirring controversy. It is the love of daughter, Gran, nature and soul skin man that carries her forward.




Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Guest Author: Angela Fiddler

Lots, fast and good writing. (or more correctly, writing a lot, quickly and well)

In my day, I’ve joined a lot of writing groups. One of the key lessons of writing, up there with show don’t tell and murder your darlings was you can write lots, fast and good; pick two. It was one of my mantras. 

For the past couple of years I’ve been writing every day, but I was I never was a you must write everyday person. I’ve met a lot of unpublished authors who wrote every day. Having read their stuff, I wished they’d been a little less diligent. It was obvious to me at the stage the books were at that some scenes sparked with life and some were just limp. Some people cranked books out every couple of months, but whole chapters would pass without a single spark of something interesting happening. 

I’m not suggesting you should be bursting with creative fever or shouldn’t open up your manuscript, but there are things you can do to increase your productivity and make the scenes that you write pop even in the first draft.

·        If you don’t have preplanned plot that has the whole story outlined, leave room in your writing for your characters to have had a brilliant plan from the beginning. You don’t need to know it yet, but assume that it is there and that it will come to you. If you are a pre-planner, don’t hesitate to scrap all the planning you did if a brilliant idea comes along organically.

·        Take risks in your writing. If you find you’re starting to grow bored with what is happening on the page, think of what the worst possible thing could be and then make it happen. Life doesn’t let most brilliant 42-step plans come to fruition, and neither should your plot.

·        Don’t let the length of time you have to write determine how long your scene is going to be. If I had a forty-five minute writing session, I could bang out a fifteen hundred word scene, but if I had a four hours to write in, I’d write one massive four thousand word scene. It shouldn’t make much of a difference but it does. Each scene should have a beginning, middle and end with a climatic part to it. I started to write a scene per session and took the time between the sessions to attack the new scene with passion.

·        Sleep on it. If you’ve taken a lot of risks and you’ve seemed to have written yourself into a corner, that’s the time to take a break. If the Internet is suddenly much more interesting than your story and you can’t seem to keep the word processor window open, take a break. Let the story and all that you’ve done and have yet to do simmer on the back burner. When you know what the characters have to do next and you think it’s interesting, start fresh.



·        Be highly aware of what each scene is supposed to accomplish and then write until you accomplish that goal. If you know how the book is going to end, it helps to know what you’re trying to show to the reader, but even if you don’t know the whole picture yet you should be very aware of what the characters are trying to do to make their situation better.

·        Don’t talk about what you’re going to write. Our brains are pretty primitive when it comes a lot of things, and telling someone what you are going to write can be enough to not make your brain want to tell it again. Your brain rewards you by making new connections, and if you reward yourself by telling someone what’s going to happen, it’s not going to reward you again by retelling it on the page.  

Writing emotionally moving work is hard to do, and prose that does not reward the reader emotionally is not going to help the telling of your story. I wrote The Care and Feeding of Sex Demons in two weeks. I had written what is now the prequel to the story five years ago and had all of that time to think about what I was going to do. Actually writing it was the easiest part. The rewriting is where the real gold is, and that took much longer to do than just writing down the first draft. 
  
I know the need for feedback is a desperate feeling, so it’s not lightly that I make this final suggestion. Do not let anyone read the story until you’ve gone back and rewritten the book. Streamline the plot from start to finish. Murder your darlings gets tossed around so often you forget that it’s not murder the bad stuff or murder the stuff you don’t care so much about. When you go back to edit, take a hard look at each and every one of your scenes. If they do not carry the plot of your story forward, cut it. Even if it’s funny, even if it’s cute, delete it. If it doesn’t have anything to do with the plot of your novel, it has no point and your story will be better without it. You can add stuff in to make it important or paste the best line in elsewhere. 

Once the book hits the reader, they don’t care if the book took two weeks or a lifetime. It really doesn’t matter how quickly the first draft was written in. The true goal is telling a fascinating tale from start to finish.

About the Author:

Angela Fiddler wrote her first erotic novel as a birthday present to a friend who had requested kneeling and vampires.  While the vampires come and go in the story, the kneeling remains.  Angela likes smut, dark humor and stories that mix erotica with raw emotion.  She talks about writing and her characters at www.angelafiddler.com

Her latest book is the paranormal erotica, The Care and Feeding of Sex Demons.

Connect & Socialize with Angela!


The Care and Feeding of Sex Demons

Author: Angela Fiddler
Publisher: Loose Id
Pages: 180
Language: English
Genre: Paranormal Erotica
Format: eBook

About the Book:

Keeping a sex demon happy and sexually satisfied is always the safest option, even if Cy has his own relationship issues. When saving the world on a regular basis, a happy home is important, especially when mixing human, fae princes and a starving sex demon.

Purchase your copy at AMAZON


Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Book Spotlight: Soul Skin by Jan Porter

Soul Skin 
1000 lifetimes, 1000 sacred dream journeys

Author: Jan I. Porter
Paperback: 586 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (December 21, 2013)
Amazon Link

Synopsis:

Midlife crisis Navi communes with her dead Grandmother and a mysterious soul skin man. Doomed to marital heartbreak, she clumsily follows a shamanic path; all the while coping with a child’s cancer, spirit world intrusion, church doctrine, menopause, a dark shadow nemesis, and job loss. All of these, rudely slamming her into a dark night of the soul. Sacred ancient sisterhood teachings via dream journeys ensue in a Nazi death camp, a pre-civil war deep south, early indigenous North America, and as Joan of Arc. Also, as audience with Lord Byron and as a wolf mate. Navi explores life in a thought provoking and amusing commentary of social, cultural and religious ideals, all stirring controversy. It is the love of daughter, Gran, nature and soul skin man that carries her forward.

Excerpt


“Moist wet fog wavered. Close by, light puffing sounds of Crazy Annie igniting her corncob pipe, followed by her distinctive tobacco herb mixture aroma. 

“Hi Annie.”

“Aye, good day my friend.”

Late evening after heavy rainfall began to clear, Navi stood in her back yard, Annie’s back yard in her time and era. Un-manicured lawn exposed an herb and vegetable garden before rugged wilderness, trees in a thousand shades of green, shimmering with new spring life and fresh rain. A gateway path entrance of two intertwined spruce, beckoned the forest beyond. A crow cawed in distant stillness. Navi turned her head upward, breathing in the fresh spring air, clean, crisp, moist and filled with smells of the earth. From behind, a gentle lapping of waves spilled and splashed against the rocky lake shoreline. From the ridge, a lone wolf’s howl summoned to its mate. To the left, a campfire crackle, a metal pot slid over a rough granite table. Comforted in majestic wilderness stillness and Annie’s company, Navi smiled; turned her head upward, tongue protruding outward, catching the moisture of a fine wet mist, cool and fresh. Metal pot clanged, the sizzling snap of food frying over a hot fire, followed by the flavorful aroma of fresh lake fish cooking in herbed spices.

Joining Annie aside the campfire, “May I assist you my friend?”

“This day you are my guest. Sit. We shall chat awhile, and eat in blessed company and gratitude.”

“As you wish, but please, don’t hesitate to ask, I am happy to help. I am happy to see you.”

“Are you dreaming?”

“I think so.”

“As a child, an old Choctaw woman once told me that there were four different kinds of dreams. Each has its own way of offering a teaching, or not. Some of the old most common dreams came when one slept, the ancestors and animal kingdom showing the way to provide food, make tools and acquire the necessities of sustaining earthly life. Nonsense dreams are bits and pieces that leave one feeling un-rested without insight or information that would aid daily or spiritual life. Wish dreams reflect one’s desires unfulfilled. These tell you that you are wishing for, rather than living for. Wishes are always about soul and heart longings; for a soul path to go unfulfilled, and if it is about love, it goes un-requited.”

Annie removed the fry pot, scooped out the fish, with a hodge-podge of root vegetables, wrapped it in a fresh wet leaf bundle and tucked inside the fire pit between rock circle enclosure and hot coals. Two weathered bone china teacups filled with fresh hot chicory coffee blend, she handed one to Navi, motioning cheers. Sitting back, lifting multi-colored skirt away from muddy worn work boots, she flicked a match and re-lit her corncob pipe, puffing, contemplative. Reaching into her skirt waist, she removed a small leather pouch and unraveled it, revealing four hand-rolled cigarettes, and handed the bundle to Navi. Smiling in gratitude, loosening her own old shawl, she picked one out, as Annie readied another match. Warmed by the fire, Annie slid her hooded shawl back onto her shoulders; revealing dark graying hair tied loosely in a bun, setting bang tendrils free and curling around ancient laser beam eyes. 

“Medicine dreams, your journey dreams, are sacred. Sacred dreamtime journeys teach of the spirit world, the universe and other realities. All exist right now, as a part of the whole. Oft your spirit body wanders, looking for solutions, aiding others, touching and communing with soul mates, or travelling to distant stars.

You have been wise to keep them to yourself. Accept them as a gift, rather than a curse, for when the time is right, you will share them with the world, share them with those who have the mind to remember their own connection to the all that is. Medicine dreaming aids the receiver in his or her own growth, as an initiation process and evolving spiritual path, but more importantly, when the time is right, aids the future generations. Another gateway offered, for those who are called, will find you and through you, find, remember and open their own connection. They contain many levels of teaching, most of which will be assimilated and integrated unconsciously.

Here in dreamtime, you find many spirit soul mates, yet in your day-to-day waking earthly life, these soul mates are living out a different agenda and you may not congeal, yet you remain tethered together through eternity, in a love bond. A sacred dreamer is an old soul, a master who has held thousands of lifetimes, all on behalf of a higher agenda and greater plan. A sacred dreamer is a prophet, seer, sensitive, diviner, mystic, shaman, medicine healer, teacher, nurturer and holy woman.” 

Friday, February 7, 2014

Happy Follow Friday!



It's time for the weekly hop!! If you want to meet new friends, visit Alison Can Read  or Parajunkee's View and join the blog hop. 


Question of the Week: If you could read a book for the “first time” again, which book would it be? Why?

Like Alison, if you are closely following this blog, my obvious answer to a question like this is Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. This is the book series I loved for years (LOTR dropped to 2nd place now). I remember the first time I found the series, heaven! Waiting the next book to come out, I literally counted the days! Even had my cousin buy Blood Promise in the US because our bookstore don't have it yet here (Philippines). Also remember the feeling when it ended. 

Yaaaay, next week hubs and I will be watching the movie adaptation... excited and worried at the same time... praying it won't turn into Vampire 'Mean Girls'.

How about you? Happy Friday!

Product Review: Stars Projection Clock from Romwe

Stars Projection Clock
USD18.99



Pictures of the Stars Projection Clock 
as ordered from Romwe.com



clock in dark room



How to order:


Sign up for an account FREE and once signed in

Add your chosen product/s to your cart

Review and confirm cart summary

Add shipping address 
(you can enter more than one shipping name and address; 
personal or business address)

Select shipping method
Worldwide free shipping for STANDARD SHIPPING METHOD ranging from 3-25 days depending on your country, check standard shipping in working days HERE

10 to 20 days excluding processing time (3-5 working days)


Europe (Belgium Luxembourg Netherlands Spain Sweden Portugal Italy Switzerland)

Asia (Japan Korea India Vietnam Philippines Thailand)

Middle Asia (Egypt Iran Israel Jordan Kuwait Lebanon* Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria* Palestine*)

Process payment and add special instructions

special instructions could be 'add extra bubble wrap, tight wrapping, etc.'

Click Proceed to payment and you are done!


Actual item picked-up at the Philippines Post Office (Main)


Order date: September 20, 2013
Shipping Method: Standard Shipping (Free)
Dispatched: September 23, 2013 19:31PM (with email confirmation)
Received: October 1, 2013

You can track your items HERE



Item in black plastic bag


Placed in bubble wrap




product as shown in website vs actual product received 

Review >>>>> I got this product in October 2013 and it is still functional as of this writing (will update in the next coming months - still OK - August 2014). My kids love this clock so much! It has built-in light and music. My kids are always excited to play/use this clock every night as it has 4-5 different music they can choose from depending on their mood. Music and light time usually range from 5 - 30 minutes (haven't tried more than 30 minutes) where it will automatically shut off, lights and music. 

Ratings: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

*Item received free from Romwe.comgift from Ocrun.com.

**I used Grammarly.com as my English grammar checker and proofreader
for this particular post.

Now Showing: Vampire Academy Movie



Director: Mark Waters
Writers: Richelle Mead (novel), Daniel Waters (screenplay)
Stars: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky
In theaters on February 7, 2014

Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.




*videos from IMDb, Vampire Academy and Richelle Mead Facebook Pages . . . 

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Countdown to Vampire Academy Movie (2)



Director: Mark Waters
Writers: Richelle Mead (novel), Daniel Waters (screenplay)
Stars: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky
In theaters on February 7, 2014

Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.





*videos from IMDb, Vampire Academy and Richelle Mead Facebook Pages . . . 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Countdown to Vampire Academy Movie (3)



Director: Mark Waters
Writers: Richelle Mead (novel), Daniel Waters (screenplay)
Stars: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky
In theaters on February 7, 2014

Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.




*videos from IMDb, Vampire Academy and Richelle Mead Facebook Pages . . . . 

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Countdown to Vampire Academy Movie (4)



Director: Mark Waters
Writers: Richelle Mead (novel), Daniel Waters (screenplay)
Stars: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky
In theaters on February 7, 2014

Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.


Guest Author: Freddy Owens

THAT WHICH FIRST TROUBLED US 
(A brooding thought or two from a self published author)

I guess I should be more circumspect in public and not say that it astounds me that so many people now have read Then Like the Blind Man and actually like it. In fact, there's been a surfeit of praise. I'm tickled of course, but can this be possible? Am I not dreaming a pleasant dream from which I'll awaken one day to discover the harsh truth, i.e., that my book is sub par, mediocre and yet another example of self published claptrap? I ask myself this. And I'm a little embarrassed, I guess. I mean I'm out there now, publicized in a way I'm only gradually getting to know. It's sort of like having been behind locked doors for years and years and finally finding a key of sorts and using it to open the door and stepping out into the sunshine - where everything is now exposed. The temptation, of course, is to crawl back, go back inside, shut the doors, shut out the over bright lights. Seems odd and a little disconcerting at times but I seem to have an abiding affiliation with the darkness, more so than I do with the light - it is the darkness that interests me, that causes me to explore. But that requires light, doesn't it? I need the light; but I love the darkness. 

I find myself at times afraid of success, though this is what I seem to be striving for. Success is not bad, of course. We all (probably) want it. You (probably) want it. I want it. But I wonder whether efforts made on its behalf are truly fruitful.  I have made compromises; I've had to market my book, for example, more than I had envisioned, being self-published. This has eaten into my writing time. In fact, of late, writing time has been next to nil. Sometimes I wonder if there's an easier way to success, whether or not a more preplanned, formulaic approach to writing would yield greater results.  

I aspire to literary fiction - but I think I may be more of a crusader-novelist than I would like to admit. I haven't written in other genres (or on second thought maybe I have and just don't know it yet) so I really don't know what it would be like to do so. I imagine that genre writers do a good deal more of preplanning, you know, of the sort that requires outlines and careful, even meticulous, attention to things like plot points and how to best position them along the line of the story the better to form 'mind blowing' (hyperbole mine) transitions from beginning to middle to end - all well and exceedingly good no doubt. On the other hand, writing literary fiction - if that is what I am trying to do - seems messier and I think must involve a fair amount of brooding, imagining hairline fractures (where none exist) or just fumbling about aimlessly in the dark.

Here's a quote from Eudora Welty that I think speaks to this. From The Eye of the Story / On Plot and The Crusader Novelist: "With a blueprint to work with instead of a vision, there is a good deal that we as the crusader-novelist must be at pains to leave out. Unavoidably, I think, we shall leave out one of the greatest things. This is the mystery of life. Our blueprint for sanity and of solution for trouble leaves out the dark. This is odd, because surely it was the dark that first troubled us." Imagine that.   

Eudora envisions something beyond merely producing a book that sells well and I think – as self-published authors – we might do well to consider it. For Eudora writing is an act of courage, of dealing with that which troubles us, using the pen's eye, so to speak, to probe the darkness. Whether or not the story produced is a best seller is beside the point. Whether or not it receives accolades from the so-called literary establishment is also beside the point.  Is it true, seems to be the point. It could be fantastic, paranormal thriller material – but is it true? To the extent it is based on plan and formula, to that extent, it may not be; it may sell well, it may even garner readers and help build a 'brand', but again, is it true? Does truth matter?


I don't think I could write an outline before writing a book (at least not easily). However, in writing Then Like the Blind Man I remember I had a large flat tabletop covered with scraps of paper and pages of copious notes semi-haphazardly-organized into semblances of chapter sequences, which I would mull over obsessively, from time to time getting rid of whole sections or adding new ones. You might have mistaken me then for the mad but brilliant mathematician John Nash (who Russell Crowe played in the movie A Beautiful Mind) with all his walls covered in papers and desperate red lines connecting imaginary dots across miles of paranoid space. Eudora could well have cited me for having provided a blueprint for sanity and solution for trouble. She might also have commended an effort, though gross and faltering, at navigating the darkness. It wasn't about money or marketability – at least not at that point. You might recall the comparison (I can't remember where it came from) that describes writing a novel as being a lot like driving at night with headlights. You might not be able to see the journey's end, but you can see far enough ahead to make it. I like that comparison, and I come to no conclusions. You might throw plans out the window and end up with a kind of hodgepodge nobody understands. And what good would that be? Where's your vision?

Visit his website at www.FreddieOwens.com

Connect & Socialize with Freddie!



Then Like the Blind Man: 
Orbie’s Story

Author: Freddie Owens
Publisher: Blind Sight Publications
Pages: 332
Language: English
Genre: Historical Fiction/Coming of Age
Format: Paperback & eBook

A storm is brewing in the all-but-forgotten backcountry of Kentucky. And, for young Orbie Ray, the swirling heavens may just have the power to tear open his family’s darkest secrets. Then Like The Blind Man: Orbie’s Story is the enthralling debut novel by Freddie Owens, which tells the story of a spirited wunderkind in the segregated South of the 1950s and the forces he must overcome to restore order in his world. Rich in authentic vernacular and evocative of a time and place long past, this absorbing work of magical realism offered up with a Southern twist will engage readers who relish the Southern literary canon, or any tale well told. 

Nine-year-old Orbie already has his cross to bear. After the sudden death of his father, his mother Ruby has off and married his father’s coworker and friend Victor, a slick-talking man with a snake tattoo. Since the marriage, Orbie, his sister Missy, and his mother haven’t had a peaceful moment with the heavy-drinking, fitful new man of the house. Orbie hates his stepfather more than he can stand; this fact lands him at his grandparents’ place in Harlan’s Crossroads, Kentucky, when Victor decides to move the family to Florida without including him. In his new surroundings, Orbie finds little to distract him from Granpaw’s ornery ways and constant teasing jokes about snakes. 

As Orbie grudgingly adjusts to life with his doting Granny and carping Granpaw, who are a bit too keen on their black neighbors for Orbie’s taste, not to mention their Pentecostal congregation of snake handlers, he finds his world views changing, particularly when it comes to matters of race, religion, and the true cause of his father’s death. He befriends a boy named Willis, who shares his love of art, but not his skin color. And, when Orbie crosses paths with the black Choctaw preacher, Moses Mashbone, he learns of a power that could expose and defeat his enemies, but can’t be used for revenge. When a storm of unusual magnitude descends, he happens upon the solution to a paradox that is both magical and ordinary. The question is, will it be enough?


Equal parts Hamlet and Huckleberry Finn, it’s a tale that’s both rich in meaning, timely in its social relevance, and rollicking with boyhood adventure. The novel mines crucial contemporary issues, as well as the universality of the human experience while also casting a beguiling light on boyhood dreams and fears. It’s a well-spun, nuanced work of fiction that is certain to resonate with lovers of literary fiction, particularly in the grand Southern tradition of storytelling.

Purchase your copy at AMAZON


Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Countdown to Vampire Academy Movie (5)



Director: Mark Waters
Writers: Richelle Mead (novel), Daniel Waters (screenplay)
Stars: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky
In theaters on February 7, 2014

Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.




*videos from IMDb, Vampire Academy and Richelle Mead Facebook Pages . . . 

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Countdown to Vampire Academy Movie (6)



Director: Mark Waters
Writers: Richelle Mead (novel), Daniel Waters (screenplay)
Stars: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky
In theaters on February 7, 2014

Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.




*videos from IMDb, Vampire Academy and Richelle Mead Facebook Pages . . . . 
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