September 2014

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Madi Brown on Sophie Kinsella the Sarah Jessica Parker of #ChickLit @Madithe1brown #AmReading

Posted on Tuesday, September 30, 2014

10 Things You Didn't Know About Sophie Kinsella

SK (Sophie Kinsella) is easily the SJP (Sarah Jessica Parker) of Chick Lit. She's written over a dozen novels, with each of her works centering around strong female characters that modern day women love to read about. If she's extremely fashionable, enthusiastic about her career, and if she still holds a place card for family and friends then we're all in aren't we? Many of us have read her books in one sitting, but what do we really know about Sophie Kinsella the woman? Well---as I soon found out, this author is just as interesting as the multidimensional characters that she creates. Here are 10 facts about Sophie Kinsella that you probably didn't know:

1) Sophie Kinsella once considered writing a thriller. Yes, it's true. And if her agent hadn't told her that what she'd come up with wasn't dark or gritty enough, then we may have been able to judge for ourselves.

2) Sophie Kinsella admits that she can relate to all of the characters that she's concocted in her best-selling Chick Lit books. Once, while she was nursing her baby, she opened up the door for her mailman---and her shirt was unbuttoned! It was a Becky Bloomwood moment that she'll always remember.

3) When asked what profession she saw herself in if she wasn't an author, Sophie Kinsella revealed that she'd be belting out songs as a singer of course ( after all, she did study music at New College Oxford).

4) It takes Sophie Kinsella nine months to pen a novel. She breaks it up into two stages. The first phase involves coffee, and sitting down, planning and taking notes. The second phase involves total isolation where it's just Sophie writing like a mad woman to speaker blowout-blaring loud music.

5) One of Sophie Kinsella's books (Sleeping Arrangements) was adapted into a musical. It premiered in London on April 17, 2013.

6) Someone has been really busy in between books. Sophie Kinsella has five kids; four boys and a girl. Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking? How-in-almost-Brady-Bunch name does she find the time to write?

7) Guess who's hooked on eating nuts and having packets of them wherever she goes? Sophie Kinsella.

8) Life imitated art on an instance when Sophie went out Christmas shopping. She loaded her baby stroller up with so many bags that there wasn't any room for the baby.

9) Sophie Kinsella has a customized pen for all of her author book signings. She keeps it stored in gold bubble wrap.

10) Who knew? Sophie Kinsella anonymously sent a novel that she'd penned to her own publishing house under a different pen name.She remained tight lipped about doing so until her book, Can You Keep a Secret was published.


truthaboutemily

"If you LOVE New York, if you’re a name-dropping, fashion fiend careerist; fed up with serial dating, plagued with a thirst for sex, then you’ll totally stalk me for what I've penned.” - Author, Madi Brown

Description

29-year-old Emily Greene looks the part, but she’s still working on becoming a modern-day woman. Not that she’s one to back down from a challenge, but living as an eternal work-in-progress wasn't exactly the goal that she had in mind. It’s a harsh but true realization---the idea that that time isn't on her side, and the notion that wanting to have it all, doesn't mean getting it. The verdict is in; with zero prospects for a relationship and a stalled blogging career, Emily has every reason to believe that she’s been living a life too humdrum for her own good.

Making the change won’t be easy. She’ll have to do whatever it takes; start dating like a man, become more selective about which RSVP's she accepts, and work even harder at getting her dream job.The payoff’s huge; a modern twist on a storybook ending, but gains don’t often come without risks. In the here and now Emily just may be forced to choose...It’s got to be one or the other----the profession that she’s always wanted, or the love that she’s never had.

˃˃˃ Praise for Madi Brown & 

her debut novel, The Truth About Emily

"The added depth of character promises complexity but wraps everything in the saucy cloak of Emily's evolving personality and newfound beliefs about life, love, and the real nature of happiness. And this is where The Truth About Emily outshines many competitors, making it a recommended read for those seeking more than a standard romance novel." - D. Donovan, eBook Reviewer, Midwest Book Reviews

"This book has just about anything a girl would love to read about. If there's anything Emily Greene has is ISH and lots of it, oh the ending... This book is a total keeper, just anything about fashion to relationships to friends and family." - Y. Sanchez, Goodreads

Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Contemporary Women's Fiction
Rating – PG18
More details about the author
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THE HOUSE by Sebastiana Randone @sebasti29567440 #AmReading #Excerpt #Romance

Posted on Friday, September 19, 2014

She had developed into a very beautiful maiden; tall and svelte with thick golden hair, a long swanlike neck, and blue-green eyes that enchanted by their tendency to change colour with mood. These blue sapphires won young William over. Many suitors had come and gone. But he was the only one that made her heart quicken with ever increasing passion.
William Chatterham was extremely ambitious. Having created his wealth from speculation, at a time when England was expanding her empire through industry and commerce. With this, came along numerous opportunities. Particularly to those driven like William, who was fuelled primarily, by the desire to advance in station and social stature.
As a farmer, his father had toiled long and hard. Being a man who had a proclivity towards fiscal discipline, meant that the family endured a parsimonious existence, for which they were often derided and criticised, as is often the way with miserly folk. This lifelong adherence to economy however, eventually resulted in an inheritance that was surprising, as it was substantial.
When he was six, William’s mother passed away during child birth. The newborn, a girl, survived only to perish some days later. Eighteen year old William was the only child when his exhausted father finally fell to his death. This ensured the young man a small fortune. Sadness notwithstanding, suddenly William found himself in the novel predicament of a life that held much promise. Confidently he embraced this ascendancy with great expectation.
Not wishing to emulate his father, William, who was more predisposed to mental pursuits than manual labour, decided to tread a different path. With his formative years dedicated towards the procurement of wealth, William’s aspiration was largely borne of the desire to live a gentrified routine, consisting of fine clothes, food and wine, and marrying into a respectable family. The culmination of the inheritance, as well as, an innate acumen for investment and capitalising on opportunities, meant that William’s advance up the stairway to wealth and privilege was guaranteed.
Upon introduction William fell instantly in love with Elizabeth. Her charms and beauty were dazzling to the young inexperienced man. He eagerly agreed to marriage with the alacrity of a young man who had yet to experience the joys of physical romance. Fortunately, Elizabeth reciprocated his advances. William, a very handsome man, with dark looks and a tall stout physique, spoke the promise of a fairy tale union.

The House is an adult fairy tale rich in mystery and intrigue.
Here is a tale of a woman so absorbed with historical novels that her own reality ceases to offer any hope of romance and beauty.
Until one day this dreamy idealist finds herself in a mysterious forest. How she arrived there is unknown. Soon she encounters a dilapidated house, within whose ancient walls magical rooms that transport to parallel worlds lie in wait.  There she is transmigrated to 18th century England, where our heroine interacts with an odd mix of characters whose dysfunctional lives become immediately apparent.
Her first tribulation involves a nefarious lord, an archetype of the monstrous characters one encounters in fairy tales. The ramification from this confrontation sets the tone for the narrative.
A magic portal finally enables escape from the austere Georgian dwelling. She is then spirited back to the enigmatic house, and a journey to Regency London follows, where a large cast of eccentric identities present themselves.
Late one night, following a long stay in Florence, a young, heart-broken poet arrives. His introduction to the beautiful time traveller offers promise of restoration and love. But there are several more obstacles ahead before her destiny in this curious adventure is made apparent.
In the end an unexpected twist is revealed. But like all good fairy tales, this surprising conclusion is pleasing, even though the means of getting there are dark, and at times sinister.
Buy Now @ Amazon & Createspace
Genre - Historical, Fantasy, Romance
Rating - PG-16
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Connect with Sebastiana Randone on Facebook & Twitter

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Behind the Scenes of Saga of the Nine : #Area38 by Mikey D. B. #AmReading #Dystopian

Posted on Tuesday, September 9, 2014

What inspired me to write my book?

This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars.  I got that album for Christmas in 2009, and the second I heard the first song, Escape, my mind went crazy.  Youtube it!  It’s the only way to properly visualize what I’m about to tell you.  

As that first song played, I imagined a man, tortured and beaten, sitting in a chair in the middle of an abandoned football stadium.  The war drums built and built and as they did, another man, a rebel, stepped into the scene and began to circle the one in the chair.  As the lyrics then played, I pictured that it’s what the rebel would be saying to the man in the chair.

Time to escape the clutches of a name,
No this is not a game,
It’s just the beginning.

I don’t believe in fate but the bottom line,
It’s time to pay,
You know you’ve got it coming.

The way Jared Leto says these words, it’s as if he’s seeking revenge for the destitute and war torn lifestyle the man in the chair caused.  Just then, he and a crowd of people shouts:

This is war!

I was listening to that song on a major sound system, taking in the details of all the instruments and voices, and when this declaration of war sounded out, the bass shook and goose bumps shot all up and down my arms.  The rest is history really.  I wanted to write about a revolution, and that album became a major player in my writing process.  I did end up getting stuck at one point.  The plot became a poor version of The Hunger Games that had a lot to do with some drama I was dealing with in the dating world.  That whole sad realization put the project on hold and I started a second one that ended up becoming the missing half to Area 38. 

I do have to say, that the ending though, it was my favorite part to write and is my favorite part to ask people about.  I came up with it while sitting on my bed.  No music this time, just was pondering and it came.  I won’t give any spoilers, but it leaves the reader asking “How--what just happened?”  It makes them mad because it seems so contradicting to the nature of a character, but that’s what I love about it.  

This book, Saga of the Nine: Area 38 leaves the reader asking these questions, and more, in utter confusion, while the rest of the three books in the saga are meant to answer those concerns.  The ending seems random to some, but that’s only because the reader is missing a huge middle chunk.  They’ve read ABC and then X.  They don’t know the rest of the alphabet, and that’s where books two, three and four come in.
Saga of the Nine

Change affects everyone and it is no different for Jackson. Living in Area 38 for as long as he can remember, he knows of no better way to exist than under the tyrannical rule of Christopher Stone, son of Stewart Stone from The Nine of The United Governmental Areas, aka The UGA. This all takes a dramatic turn when Jackson finds a red, metal box buried in his yard, filled with illegal artifacts—journals, a Bible, CDs, etc.—that are from a man of whom he has no recollection of: Mica Rouge.

 The year is 2036 and Mica, unlike Jackson, does know of a better way of life but is torn apart as he sees his country, The United States of America, crumbling from within by group known as The Political Mafia. The Mafia has infiltrated levels upon levels of governmental resources and it is up to Mica and a vigilante group known as The USA Division to stop them and their dark Utopian vision. To their demise, and at the country's expense, The Division fails and has no choice but to watch The Constitution dissolve and transform into The UGA.

 In a final stand, having not given up hope, Mica and what is left of The Division, give one final fight in Colorado, or better known as Area 38. However, all is lost as The Division is betrayed by one of their own, Stewart Stone. Mica is left with no choice but to hide in exile, leaving what little history he can of himself and the great United States of America, with his wife, long time friends, and newly born son in hopes that they will one day finish what he could not.

 Jackson, having found this legacy twenty-seven years later, decides to start the war that will end The Nine, and he with an outcast group known as The Raiders, begins his fight with Christopher Stone in Area 38. Filled with betrayal, unity, despair, hope, hate and love Area 38 follows both Mica and Jackson in their attempts to restore what they believe to be true freedom, and where one fails, the other rises to the seemingly impossible challenge.

Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Dystopian Thriller
Rating – PG13
More details about the author
Connect with Mikey D. B. on Facebook & Twitter
Website www.mikeydb.com

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John Smith: Last Known Survivor of the #Microsoft Wars by Roland Hughes #AmReading

Posted on Thursday, September 4, 2014

SK:  I ask again, what was the truth according to John Smith?
JS:    Later in life, when people were counting the number of wells and starting to not buy the “dead Dino” story, scientists made an even more ludicrous claim.  They claimed the jungle and forest, which covered all of the land during the age of the dinosaur, was also decomposing and creating large pools of oil.
SK:  Why was this so ludicrous?
JS:    Admittedly, plant and animal life will share some mineral content, and all things will create some kind of goo when they reach that liquefying stage of decomposition.  However, I do find it a stretch that both would end up creating crude oil, no matter how much heat and time were applied, unless crude is a very tiny subset of minerals that survive decomposition. 
Eventually, scientists started claiming crude was caused by decaying plant and animal life.  I guess fish never played into the formula.  Scientists really had no choice.  They had to explain to an increasingly skeptical public why some crude was yellow and some black.  Some crude was fast-flowing liquid and other crude was a solid brick.
SK:  I ask again, what was the truth according to John Smith?
JS:    Crude oil is decomposing humans from earlier cycles.  Each cycle lasts an unbelievably long time, as far as human life  is concerned.  Humans, by and large, have a need to build communities.  As the cycle progresses, these communities become cities of a massive scale.  When the earth shifts and heaves its continents around, these cities are buried deep in a matter of hours, if not seconds.  They are buried deep without air or the nutrients needed for bacterial decomposition.
The steel eventually reverts back to iron and carbon; the concrete, to limestone and sand.  I’m not certain what happens to the glass other than the fact it is crushed into pieces so tiny one wouldn’t notice them coming up with the drilling mud.  The humans and their pets, though—they are crushed and eventually, the heat of the earth cooks them into crude.
SK:  That is a disgusting thing to say.  We have one of those oil sites oozing stuff out of the ground near our city! People use it for all kinds of things.
JS:    Humans are useful in a variety of forms.  Have they invented a product called petroleum jelly yet?  It’s kind of greasy, helps cuts heal and looks a lot like animal fat.
SK:  Oh!  I cannot believe I’m being forced to sit here and listen to this!
JS:    Do you think I’m the first to point something like this out?  I suppose you have never heard of cannibalism either?
SK:  Another disgusting tale to frighten children!
JS:    Oh no.  It was real and existed in various forms around the globe.  Even in large cities, where everybody claimed it never happened, you would see the occasional news report that someone had been arrested with pieces of humans in their fridge or freezer.  There was even a movie about the earth running out of food and governments taking it upon themselves to make cannibalism palatable to the masses.
SK:  I simply cannot accept the premise anybody would believe such a story.
JS:    The story became a legend.  They would simply herd people to different areas of each city.  One area would be selected for recycling.  The people would be processed and turned into little food squares of “Soylent Green.”  There were lots of different colors of food squares made from the various forms of food still available but there wasn’t enough to go around.

“John Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars” is one big interview. It is a transcript of a dialogue between “John Smith” (who, as the title of the book implies is the last known survivor of the Microsoft wars) and the interviewer for a prominent news organization.
Buy Now @ Amazon & B&N
Genre – Dystopian Fiction
Rating – PG
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S.A. Snow on How to Research Your Story #WriteTip #SciFi #AmWriting @BooksBySnow

Posted on Wednesday, September 3, 2014

How to Research Your Story Before Writing Your Book

I’m not generally known for doing a lot of research before writing a piece. I tend to do research as I go along. That said, there are few things I researched for this particular novel before I even set pen to paper, or rather fingers to keyboard.

Once I had decided on a location for the start of the novel, I researched Washington D.C. and found a good place for my spaceship to land. It was incredibly important for it to land in seclusion as well as in the metro area.

Likewise, did you know the United Nations had an Office of Outer Space Affairs? I didn’t! But they do, and I can’t tell you the number of beta readers who thought I had just made that up off the top of my head.

There are reasons for doing research. It sets up the basis for the characters and the plot. And generally, it makes writing easier and faster. There are less bumps in the writing and editing path and the information you’re putting out there is correct and up-to-date. It means that we, as authors, are not just spewing out ignorant information to a less informed world, but are also educating readers. Three other people now know that there is United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs.

It’s important to go to more than one source for your information as well and not just use wikipedia. In college, all my professors told me to never use wikipedia for anything, but it is actually a very good starting point.

For example in using multiple sites, I needed to research a certain thing about Usnavi. You see, Usnavi is a sex-shifting alien, which means Usnavi does not have a sex or gender identity (and yes, there is a difference between a sex identity and a gender identity). In order to make my story reason, to make it believable for those in the community, I had to figure out the pronouns.

I know people who are genderqueer, and I know the pronouns they use. However, they vary. There isn’t set pronouns! Meaning, I had some freedom in my choices for Usnavi. I researched diligently, on multiple sites because they all gave me different answers, and settled on zhe/zher/zhim (it’s because I like that one can see both masculine and feminine in the words). But without research BEFORE writing the character, the character would not be the same. Some of the conversations Jane and Usnavi have would not be the same, and certainly some of the corrections Jane makes for others would not have happened.

Research informs writing. And writing informs research. It’s a give and take in this game of creation.


AcrossWorldsCollision

Jane expected six months undercover to be hard; she expected it to be lonely and bleak. She didn’t expect to find love. 

Jane Butler, a CIA operative, is assigned the task of infiltrating the Xanthians and determining if they’re a threat to humanity. Going undercover as a Xanthian mate, she boards the transport ship and meets Usnavi—her new mate. After spending six days traveling through space, Jane is ecstatic to explore the Xanthian station and soon sets out to complete her mission. The only problem? Usnavi—and the feelings she is quickly developing. 

Fumbling their way through varying sexual expectations, cooking catastrophes, and cultural differences, they soon discover life together is never boring. As Jane and Usnavi careen into a relationship neither of them expected, Jane uncovers dark secrets about the Xanthians and realizes she may no longer be safe. When it becomes clear she’s on her own, Jane is forced to trust and rely on Usnavi. Simultaneously struggling with her mission, her feelings for Usnavi, and homesickness, Jane faces questions she never imagined she would have to answer.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords
Genre – Blended Science Fiction, Erotica
Rating – NC17
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THE DUNES #Excerpt by Erin Sands @TheDunesBook #NonFiction #Relationships

Posted on Tuesday, September 2, 2014


The Dunes
In the heart of the universe, in a land not so far away, exists a place of imminent transformation. It is a place undiscovered by most, and sought out by a daring few, a place where the best and the worst are revealed without filter, and the quest, though formidable, begets a masterpiece of the soul. In this place, a war is waged against the stagnant heart that seeks to cling to what was and cripple new life with old fears. And so it has been that only the brave in spirit venture upon it, content to reap its end result as their reward. Thus believing in change, they call this place “The Dunes”.

Not for the delicate, The Dunes is a glorious 300-foot-high, 75-degree incline of soft sand that has been bleached by the blazing sun. At first glance, it is awe-inspiring. Its beauty is evident, yet uncompromising, in its call. It is a majestic uphill sand climb resolutely postured as the menacing hurdle to divine destiny. Yet, still they come to answer its call. Still they arrive consumed by the desire to be more than they were when they began, hoping that what lies inside of them is the fullness of life available beyond The Dunes.

Our story begins on a very beautiful and very hot day at The Dunes. It is 105 degrees outside and we find a man and a woman baking in the afternoon sun. One stands at the top of the 300-foot mound, the other, at the bottom.

The One: I love you.

The Other: And I love you.

The One: I want you with me. Take this journey, meet me at the top and trust that everything will be all right.

The Other slowly considered the request and believing that their love was heaven sent elected to rise to the challenge. But wait…

5DmkII_2226
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in the Bay Area of Northern California, Erin grew up with an innate love for dance, theatre and the written word. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University, Erin began her career in the arts as an actress and choreographer. After booking several notable roles in television and film, Erin began to use her gift of writing in blogs featuring political and social commentary, as well as developing content for theatrical use.

Although The Dunes, is a divine departure from Erin’s previous writings it is by far her most cherished work to date. “I wrote The Dunes initially as self therapy because I needed to release some painful experiences and disappointments from my past. I had this thirst to walk in the complete fullness of life with joy as my constant companion. I had no idea what effect it would have on other people. But when I saw people read it and be released from fears that had held them back for years…when I saw people forgive and be able to walk in the freedom forgiveness brings…when I saw people commit and serve and how those things opened up new opportunities in their life, I was just humbled. Humbled by the awesome power of God and humbled that I had been allowed to go along for the ride”.

When asked why she writes, Erin pauses and reflects on the truth of her heart. “I write because although I am only now beginning to truly love the process, I have always loved the outcome. Like a composer, words become my notes. I string them together in song eliciting the response of my reader, grafting a picture of my soul. Where besides the written word can you effect change so utterly and so succinctly? What besides the written word can pierce the universal collective mind? Everything begins with a thought, but it isn’t until that thought is articulated in written word and those words passed down can life changing movement happen. It must be written, it must be expressed on tablet, and when it is, we all become greater, whether the writing be genius or fatuity, it has evoked thought and debate. Why wouldn’t I want to be apart of that phenomenon? Why wouldn’t I want to share my story, give my testimony…add my paradigm to the mix? Whether it is a novel, a poem, an essay or an article, it is humanity visited. An insight into a new or sometimes shared truth. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. And with that I live my life”.
Dune

If there was a journey that could masterfully change your life in seven revelations...would you take it? 

In life, sometimes the kernels of wisdom and the richness of revelation can be found in the most innocent of stories; and so it is with The Dunes. Join one man and one woman in an exquisitely simple yet remarkably profound journey as you discover with them that the mountain you must climb in order to live the abundant life of your dreams is located squarely within your heart. 

Illuminated in seven revelations; The Dunes carries the reader on a journey to not only examine the obstacles that are holding them back in life but to conquer and over come them as well. With each revelation The Dunes intimately calls on the reader as the journey companion to face a challenge…a dare if you will that requires an uncompromising commitment to change. In the family of faith-based self help books, The Dunes stands alone, simultaneously taking the reader from fiction to life and back again, equipped with a tailor made journal for the readers inner most secrets and reflections. The Dunes is part allegory, part testimony and part journal, but the best part is the healing it offers your heart. When you’re ready to step out of your comfort zone and step into the miracle of your life…The Dunes awaits. 

CAUTION: Readers of this book are subject to significant changes for the better. Side effects may include frequent smiling and enjoying life in every season.

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Genre – Non-fiction
Rating – G
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