As tomorrow is Thanksgiving I would like to give thanks as I am so thankful to be here still this year. While everyone thinks this year has been horrible I am seeing the blessings in it. Plus I am an introvert so social distancing is my existence. This year though exciting things have happened as my little writing business world is expanding!
Indie Promotions is now expanding from the Indie author world into Indie Filmmaking! We have recently joined with MyIndie Productions as contributing film reviewer! How did this start? An Indie filmmaker sent me a copy of his latest film to me to watch for my birthday, as a thanks just for sharing his work. As a thank you back I decided I would do a complementary review back for him. I really enjoyed do it. I wanted to branch out more and perhaps get into Indie film reviewing world, with promoting as well.
Skip to the good stuff I completed my first official indie film review and have been added as contributing reviewer! All with hope of fine tuning my writing craft more.
Not only am I a writer of words I also help promote other writers/ authors like myself. I help others more often with their writing and books than I do on my own. I often get scolded on this little known fact, but I just can’t help it. I love helping others any way I can.
Here I would like to share my latest opus for a client that I recently did for them. I don’t toot my own horn that much, buuuut… I am quite pleased with this little opus I did for them. I am not a pro by any means, STILL I think I did well. I’m loving it either way. Watch. Enjoy. Contact me for one of your own!
Taking Action For a Better Tomorrow by Jeremy P. Boggess now available for FREE
Today I am happy to spotlight a cover reveal for author Sherril Joseph with R&R Book Tours! Without further ado…
BEHOLD!
Eucalyptus Street: Green Curse *Each book is a standalone installment*
Expected Publication Date: Fall 2020
Genre: MG Mystery/ Middle Grade – 9 to 12 years old (For fans of Nancy Drew type mysteries)
In 1945, Isabela de Cordoba’s great-grandfather, the famous silent movie actor Lorenzo de Cordoba, mysteriously hid a legendary, multimillion-dollar emerald somewhere on the family’s sprawling Eucalyptus Street estate. Seventy years later, the gem remains concealed. Nicknamed the “Green Curse,” the emerald is blamed for the Southern California familia’s numerous, untimely deaths.
On her twenty-first birthday, Isabela receives a secret letter with a cryptic poem. These documents from the long-deceased Lorenzo invite her to hunt for the gemstone. But first, she must decipher the poem’s eight stanzas for clues.
To assist, Isabela hires her thirteen-year-old neighbors, the four Botanic Hill Detectives—twins Lanny and Lexi Wyatt, and their best friends, Moki Kalani and Rani Kumar. Eerie footsteps inside the mansion, unexplained occurrences in the adjacent cemetery, and the mysterious tenant in the backyard casita challenge them. But they ingeniously make progress on the poem’s meaning with startling discoveries. Sliding wall panels, a secret room, and hidden passages reveal much. The detectives aren’t the only ones looking for the emerald. The perilous race for the de Cordoba treasure is on!
HERE IS WHAT BETA READERS ARE SAYING!
“GREEN CURSE is a spooky mystery that starts during a lightning storm in a big empty mansion. The tension ratchets up continuously as the story goes, alluding to ghosts, vampires, tombstones, graves, and a scary old woman that could be a witch. There’s a mystery within the mystery, a broad range of diverse characters, and interesting lore about gemstones of antiquity. My 12-year-old son and I recommend this page-turner that we just had to finish in one day!”-–BEN GARTNER, author of The Eye of Ra series
“This book was shocking, fun, and clever. I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. One of the best books I have ever read!”–LIAM M., age 11, Macungie, PA
Nutmeg Street: Egyptian Secrets (A Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries #1)
Publication Date: February 1st, 2020
Genre: MG/ Middle Grade/ Mystery (Ages 9 – 12)
World-famous Egyptologist Dr. Winston Thornsley died suddenly two months ago in disgrace. His widow, Ida Thornsley, remains convinced her husband was falsely accused of stealing an ancient burial urn he discovered in Egypt last summer, but local and federal law enforcement officers are stumped.
Mrs. Thornsley, desperate for answers, calls in her thirteen-year-old neighbors, the Botanic Hill Detectives—twins Lanny and Lexi Wyatt, Moki Kalani, and Rani Kumar. Their exciting mission? To find the urn and its real thief, bring the criminal to justice, and exonerate Dr. Thornsley so his spotless reputation can be restored.
A roomful of venomous snakes, the poisoned Egyptian pond, and Dragon Pit Man are just a few of the tests awaiting the four tech-savvy teenagers. As the detectives begin to unravel the sinister plot, the mystery takes a dangerous turn. Answers are at their fingertips—if they can only convince their parents to let them solve the case.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sherrill Joseph will be forever inspired by her beautiful students in the San Diego public schools where she taught for thirty-five years before retiring and becoming a published author.
She has peopled and themed the Botanic Hill Detectives Mysteries with children and adult characters of various abilities, races, cultures, and interests. Sherrill strongly believes that children need to find not only themselves in books but others from different races and social situations if all are to become tolerant, anti-racist world citizens.
In addition, the author created her detectives—patterned after her own fifth-grade students and twelve-year-old twin cousins—to be mature, smart, polite role models that will appeal to parents, teachers, but especially to kids who seek to realize their greatest potential with courage and self-respect.
Sherrill is a lexical-gustatory synesthete and native San Diegan where she lives in a 1928 Spanish-style house in a historic neighborhood with her poodle-bichon mix, Jimmy Lambchop. Other loves include her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. She can’t leave out dark chocolate, popcorn, old movies, purple, and daisies. Having never lived in a two-story house, she is naturally fascinated by staircases. Sherrill is a member of SCBWI and the Authors Guild and promises many more adventures with the squad to come.
Happy Thursday! In the spotlight today I am happy to be a part of The Bursting Bookshelf Blog Tour for With a Father’s Love: 52 Weekly Letter’s to My Beloved Daughters by Dr. Edmund H. Moore!
The writing bug first struck my heart in the art form of poetry. I remember loving Seuss and Shel Silverstein as a child. It wasn’t untill high school that it truly struck my heart. Reading the likes of Yeats, Poe, Blake, Dickenson, Frost, Browining, Angelou in Lit Class. Effortlessly I took pen to paper and started to write my own. I love poetry, but I moved on to learn more different styles of writing. Still Poetry is always dear. Sometimes I go back to it. Happy to share my latest piece that recently got published on VOCAL.
It’s THURSDAY! I think we missed last Thursday, but back on track here. Today we are spotlighting a children’s book: The Adventures of Ollie Orangutanby Larry Landgraf
Book Title: The Adventures of Ollie Orangutan
Genre: Childrens, Life lesson story
Ages Appropiate: 7 -and up
Ollie is a cute story and I think would make a spectacular movie. Ollie is remeniscent of those family animal movies like “Benji”, “Homeward Bound”, “Milo and Ottis”. Not sure you could get an Orangutan to act, but I am seeing something brilliant from Industrial Lights and Magic! The story is of young Ollie moving from his current Zoo home to a new Zoo in another town away. On his way there his train derails and Ollie is set free finding himself in the swamp lands of Texas. There he meet a bunch of critters only really kind of finding a friend in a kind of persnickey Owl named Fran. Ollie need food. Fran tells him of an old hermit that lives at the edge of the swamps who grows all the fruits Ollie needs. It is dangerous though as the hermit has a gun and a guard dog. Ollie must take his chances or risk starving to death.
Good Morining THURSDAY! Jazzing it up today by spotlighting the histroical fantasy romance collection title THE VENTOUROUS TALES: A COLLECTION by Isabella Berdyna Zysk
The Venturous Tales is a collection of five adventure tales set in a medieval-like fantasy world. The stories were previously published as separate novellas titled The Queen’s Brother, The King’s Niece, The Dowager’s Daughter, The Earl’s Son, and The Baron’s Ward.
Each tale in Venturous Tales was previously published as an individual novella. The author then put them in this pretty creative collection creating an origin story behind them in the most charming way. I really thought it was creative and orginal.I had reach each book individually so seeing it in this collection in that way and kind of giving them a background story in their collection was neat.
Normally I am not a liker of historical fiction/fantasy/ romance. It quite surprised me they were not as bad or boring as I thought. I enjoyed the little sprinkle of feminism that the author sprinkles throughout her stories. Each heroine is ahead of her time in a society where woman were told to be damsels, and could do this or that.
For more insight you can read my review on it. here
ATTENTION AUTHORS!!!
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It’s Thursday again! Today we are please to be a part of the Forgotten Magic Blog Tour hosted by R &R Book Tours! (http://rrbooktours.com) Here we go!
Welcome to the blog tour for the final installment from the Magic Underground trilogy, Forgotten Magic! Read on for an exclusive excerpt and a chance to win a paperback copy of the book!
Forgotten Magic (Magic Underground #3)
Publication Date: May 2020
Genre: Anthology/ Fantasy/ Magic
Publisher: Magical Mayhem Press
For the last time, these heroes, witches, wizards, vikings and more will put it all on the line. No quest is too dangerous. No monster be it a dragon or something cuddlier with teeth is off-limits in the epic conclusion to the Magic Underground Trilogy. Stay tuned for details.
Before I’d left to return home, Ai started talking to me about the Bloodmagic.
After I’d rescued him from the tower, I had taken him down to the caves. I’d settled him in one as best as I could, and then faced the cave entrance, keeping a lookout for Aiden. I was more concerned for Aidan at first; I didn’t know if he was coming or not. There was a good chance that when Ai was taken, the Community Elders would find a way to keep everyone in the tower until they had answers. As much as we were both in this together, I didn’t know what to expect now that we’d accomplished something this big.
But as Ai kept talking to me, and considering his talk of condemnation, I began to ask Ai questions. It didn’t take us long to talk about Bloodmagic.
“Bloodmagic is their word for the sacrifice,” Ai said.
“What?” My head snapped to look at him, as if to make sure he wasn’t trying to fool me. Instantly, I regretted my action, seeing his mangled body and the sad condition it was in. That was part of the reason I’d offered to stand watch in the caves, keeping my focus on the entrance. While I did not want the Community Elders to find us, and although I was watching for Aidan, I did not want to look at Ai too much. He made me feel uncomfortable.
Ai slumped beside me, looking out toward the cave entrance. The last of the sunlight was gone, and the temperature dropped. Ai did not seem to notice, even if he was nearly naked, with only a thin cloth around his loins.
“They call humanity’s curse ‘Bloodmagic,’” Ai said. “That is their name for it. I don’t think they like to think about it much.”
“If this is why you’ve been hurt, they probably don’t like to think of it,” I said. I glanced at him quickly, before reverting my eyes back to the cave entrance. “This is terrible.”
“It is,” Ai agreed. “But it is like I told you before. All of my suffering is your suffering.”
“That’s not right.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I have been alive for nearly a century, thanks to the Bloodmagic, and this is just the way things are. That is why I would prefer that you return me to my tower room.”
“What?” I gasped at the remark. “No. Why would you want that?”
“The Community won’t survive long, Skyla,” Ai said. “Without the Bloodmagic Covenant, the full effects of suffering will return to your friends and family swiftly and mercilessly. They will suffer, and in their suffering, they will make others suffer more. They might even begin to enjoy hurting others if we don’t hurry.”
“But you will suffer if you return,” I said. “And I will make you suffer, too. I don’t want that. Can’t something else be done about the Bloodmagic?”
“There is nothing that can be done about human nature,” Ai said quietly. “We are prone to self-destruction, and we live in a world where pain and suffering are constants. All the countries and nations of the world have wrestled with this question, and in the end, all of the pain still exists. Many tried to fix the problem and only made it worse.
“So they decided to try something else. And it works.” He reached up and touched the shard on his forehead, the one what was darkening along with the sky. “If I am not returned, the suffering will only increase, and you will see people at their very worst. Every evil, selfish, and ignorant thought will manifest into danger and disaster. I’ve been able to hold off their degeneracy for a long time, and without me, they will exponentially become violent and careless.”
“Surely we still have some more time to stop them.” I put my hands together, trying to think of something else. “Maybe it is a matter of education. The adults here are smart. They’ll be able learn how to deal with the pains our Community has.”
Ai shook his head. “You don’t understand,” he said with a sad sigh. “But you will, once you see it. You must promise me you will not forget me when you do, or you could be at risk, too.”
From that moment, we lapsed into silence, and I was grateful.
I shivered as we sat there, but I didn’t think it was because of the chill in the air.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Melinda Kucsera
Joynell Schultz
Lee French
H.B. Lyne
Raven Oak
L.C. Ireland
Alesha Escobar
Tiffany Shand
C.S. Johnson
Anela Deen
Erik Kort
Devorah Fox
Stephen Wallace
Gwendolyn Woodschild
Leah W. Van Dinther
Barbara Letson
C.K. Rieke
William C. Cronk,
Majanka Verstraete
Toasha Jiordano
H.M. Jones
Krista Ames
A.R. Johnston
*********ENTER TO WIN A FREE COPY!!!!!!!**********
I am having a writer’s crisis moment this week. So today’s spotlight is Angelic Confessions by none other than ME! I just tossed this together I hope you enjoy!
In a world where the Father created all I was born…an angel. A new breed it was meant to overthrow the children of heaven. To prevent this I was taken, and raised as Father’s own. my memories wiped, the killer beast inside me caged.Memories never stay buried though…and love could threaten us all.
The Windmill Browns: The Tail of Posy Brown by David R. Styles.
Genre: Children’s
The Brown Family are a family of mice that live in a dis-used Windmill in Sussex U.K. They have three small children, George, Snowy and Smudge Their Father, Windmill Brown, so named as he is the current Windmill Keeper, is happy with his lot until another child, Posy comes along. Posy is mischievous, troublesome, and naughty and manages to get herself into a scrape with a local fox who relieves her of half of her tail.
New to the writing world The Windmill Brown: The Tail of Posy Brown is written by a former Police Officer David R. Styles. following a triple heart bypass, David decided he turn his hand to writing being its as he puts it, “More sedate.”
HERE IS AN EXCERPT:
The Tail of Posy Brown
In a quiet town in Sussex, not too far from the sea, a Windmill stands majestically for everyone to see. Its sails have long since turned and it no longer mills its flour so you could say that this old Windmill has seen its brightest hour. But this Windmill, once so busy is now home to little mice. Who moved in when the snow was deep and the ponds were thick with ice.
That was nineteen sixty-three when man had all but gone the Windmill, alone and derelict the Mice just carried on. So here’s a story about the Browns And how they came in from the snow. How the Windmill became a home for them allowing them to grow.
Now with every generation, the Keepers job is handed down the current Windmill Keeper being Mr. Windmill Brown. Windmill Brown is easy going and likes to turn his hand to mending all that’s broken but things rarely go as planned.
With his small felt hat and glasses and his measure made of wood, you’ll find him busy fixing all he’s failed to make as good. His wife is very homely and keeps the family fed She does her shopping daily for the freshest cheese and bread.
And if you listen carefully you’ll catch her sing her tune as she rushes around the windmill dusting room to room. Keep it clean and dust it through. Make the Windmill shine. Brush it up and sweep it out until everything is fine. Wash the pots and clean the pans. Polish up their lids. Clean up after Windmill Brown And his four naughty kids!
The Windmill Brown: The Tail of Posy Brown is available now on Amazon to purchase
David Styles. Lives and works in Sussex, England, and has been a watercolour artist for the past 20 years. H predominantly focuses on buildings and landscapes as these seem to be what he likes painting the most. He has long hankered for the situation to arise where he could include both his painting and poetry together. he has longed loved poetry/rhyme. (He blames the Rupert annuals he was bought as a child!)
As long as he can remember he has written poetry, whether it be in the special occasion cards sent to family members or just for his own pleasure. He has written poems in many different forms but mostly enjoy humour and a good scary poem.
Over the past few months, he decided after purchasing a pen for his laptop, that he was going to write a humorous rhyming book with a few illustrations for his Grandson. Upon completion, the book looked okay and other family members liked it and suggested he publish it.
Freelance Writer Janny(Jan Marie)C 