Book Blast - Futility of Defense by Bryan Cole

 

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Bryan Cole will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Paladins are nothing but trouble. When Krell, an uneducated nobody with a stubborn streak as wide as the sea, hears the call from ReckNor, the capricious god of the seas and skies, the attention of the rich and powerful turn their gaze toward him. Paladins are notorious for upsetting the balance of power, to the detriment of any who don't worship their deity.

When Krell stands against the might of the sea devils and emerges victorious, concern and interest turn to fear—fear of their secrets and plans being revealed and exposed, of the ruin that often follows in a paladin's wake. Now he stands in defense of a pitiful town at the edge of nowhere, even as the sea devil menace grows more dire for each day that passes.

For as deadly as the sea devils are to Krell, his past choices and the consequences of his actions may be deadlier still . . .

Read an Excerpt

Marlena, Dahlia, Verbena, and Dorn were chatting with one another, discussing the weather and talking about the large trader making its way into Watford. Krell had nudged Sheana, and they fell back a bit, so they could talk out of earshot of the others.

Sheana glanced at him when he didn’t say anything, raising an eyebrow. Krell glanced at her, then looked away. She snorted a laugh.

“If you don’t want to talk to me, then why did you separate me from the others?” she asked.

Krell frowned and looked at her again before turning away.

“Hmm. I haven’t seen you like this before,” she said.

Krell nodded.

“Not sure how to say what you want to say? Or is it you don’t know what you want to say?”

Krell glanced at her, then looked back at the path.

Sheana chuckled. “Dahlia is listening to us. Have you noticed?”

Krell looked at Dahlia, who was walking ahead with the group. With them, but slightly behind. Her body was turned slightly. Fortis flew overhead, clearly enjoying the breeze.

“I hadn’t,” said Krell.

“Yes, we know. You aren’t the most observant person. Except when it comes to danger. Then you seem almost magically aware, and I mean that in the literal sense. I think ReckNor wants to keep you alive for some reason!” Her tone was light and jovial.

Krell shook his head. “It’s, well, about yesterday,” he said.

“Hmm, I figured that part out on my own.”

“I just… I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

“Stop being so good with the sword, set aside those useful paladin powers, and demonstrate how weak and lazy you are. Also incompetent, show me you’re incompetent. Then I’ll stop being afraid of you,” she said. “Maybe grow fat, so walking up the hill to the temple nearly kills you.”

Krell looked at her. Her emerald eyes were dancing in mirth, her lips pinched in an effort to not smile. “Also, shrink three inches in height!”

“You were ready for this talk,” he said.

About the Author:

Bryan is an avid reader, and has loved the fantasy genre since he was a child. His love of stories of mighty knights, terrible dragons, and noble steeds has inspired him for decades.

Website: https://www.fatpaladin.ca/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22517522.Bryan_Cole
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FatPaladin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fatpaladinbooks

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Futility-Defense-Paladins-Journey-Bryan-ebook/dp/B0C9XBWJ8H/ref

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Book Blast - Voices of Cancer by Lynda Wolters

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Lynda Wolters will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

"I don't know what to say" and "I don't know what to do" are common responses to a life-threatening diagnosis. Voices of Cancer is here to help.

Every cancer story is different, but there is one commonality: both patients and the people supporting them often struggle to properly articulate their wants and needs through particularly challenging and in many cases, uncharted territory. Lynda Wolters knows firsthand: she was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal mantle cell lymphoma in August of 2016.

Voices of Cancer offers a candid look into the world of a cancer patient, informed by Lynda’s own story and conversations had with dozens of patients weighing in on their needs, wants, and dislikes as they navigate the complex world of diagnosis, treatment, and beyond. With comprehensive and accessible insight from people who’ve been there, Voices of Cancer helps educate, dispel fears, and start positive conversations about what a cancer diagnosis truly means, while shining a light on how best to support a loved one on their own terms.

Read an Excerpt

Voices on Thoughtless Words

There is no perfect thing to say to someone with a devastating disease, but honest conversation and true statements are better than fluffy words that are best suited for use as a slogan. It’s okay to let the patient know you don’t know what to say. It’s okay to let them know you are afraid of offending them or making them feel sad with your words or your personal fear of what they are going through. And it’s okay to just sit with them, cry with them, listen to them vent, or just share space.

Some of my most comforting times were when people just shared space with me. Every time I was hospitalized, my dear friend Michelle would bring all her “gadgets”—cell phone, laptop, etc.—and work from my hospital room. Sometimes staying an hour or more, often not speaking but just sitting with me and working on her laptop, she shared space and her love.

About the Author:

Lynda was born and raised in a tiny farming community of 400 in northern Idaho. She worked on the family farm, with her first job being picking rocks out of the fields and ultimately graduating up the ladder to driving a grain truck and combine during harvest. Following high school, Lynda continued her education in Las Vegas before she moved back home to Idaho to raise her three sons.

Lynda still resides in Idaho with her husband and their peekapoo, Max.

Lynda has worked in the legal field for 30+ years and enjoys ballroom and swing dancing, horseback riding, kayaking, and river rafting. She has a heart for people and enjoys regularly volunteering. She spends the bulk of her spare time reading and writing.

Lynda was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) in August 2016. She touts herself as being a thriving warrior of the disease.

Lynda has completed two books of nonfiction: Voices of Cancer, released in October 2019, and Voices of LGBTQ+, released in August 2020.

The Placeholder, Lynda’s debut novel, was released in November 2022.

Lynda has published the following articles: Navigating the Workplace with Chemo Brain, February 23, 2020, Elephants and Tea. and When Masks Weren’t Popular, March 24, 2020, Patient Power. She has spoken on several podcasts, been a guest on a local talk show regarding Voices of Cancer, and given interviews for other outlets and print.

Jane Brody wrote up Voices of Cancer in the New York Times, her article entitled What to Say to Someone with Cancer, on January 13, 2020, with a follow-up on January 20, 2020, entitled, When Life Throws You a Curveball, Embrace the New Normal.

The Chinese translation rights of Voices of Cancer have been purchased by a grant to offer the book to medical students in Tawain.

Lynda donates Voices of Cancer books and a portion of its proceeds to Epic Experience, a nonprofit camp for adult survivors and thrivers of cancer located in Colorado.

WEBSITE: https://www.lyndawolters.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynda.wolters24
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lyndawolters1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lyndawolters/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Wolters_Lynda

Amazon links:

KINDLE: https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Cancer-What-Really-Want-ebook/dp/B07YLZKSTX/
HARD COPY: https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Cancer-What-Really-Want/dp/1645430391/
AUDIBLE: https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Cancer-What-Really-Want/dp/B0839PK3GJ/

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The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker by Charlene Bell Dietz

It's a blog tour today I'm featuring The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker by Charlene Bell Dietz
How cool is that? You'll want to keep reading. Why? There are prizes to be won. Like? Charlene Bell Dietz will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. How cool is that? Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour? You can do that here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2023/06/nbtm-flapper-imposter-and-stalker-by.html

                                                    

The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker by Charlene Bell Dietz

A privileged teenager from Minneapolis in 1923, scraps her college scholarship and runs away to become a flapper in dangerous, chaotic Chicago. In her search for illusive happiness, she confronts the mob and then must contrive a way to not be murdered.

What made you set the book in the roaring twenties?

This tale came to me in the form of a living, elderly aunt who had been a run-away teen in 1923. In her 90s, this chain-smoking woman, who drank all day, loved telling me stories about her errant life in Chicago during Al Capone’s heyday.

Think about this tantalizing history: The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker opens with a 1923 scene of an upper middle-class, Minneapolis family. Their brilliant college-bound daughter dutifully translates her high-school Latin assignment upstairs, while her parents enjoy their nightly cocktail down stairs. If prohibition started in 1920 then how could the parents be drinking in 1923?

The government gave the public one full year to prepare for prohibition. Private citizens built cavernous wine cellars, stockpiled wine and liquor, and some even bought out liquor stores.

The law only prohibited the manufacturing, the sale, and the transportation of alcohol, not the consumption. Therefore, a couple could enjoy a night out in a fancy restaurant and bring their own alcohol.

Also, a person could drink legally if they had a prescription. Just go to the doctor for a toothache, flu, or maybe you needed “stimulation”. The good doctor might write you a prescription like this: Take 3 ounces every 3 hours for stimulation until. . . stimulated. You could refill your prescription every ten days, For Medicinal Purpose Only.

When a desired product is no longer available, gangsters dashed in to fill the void. They stockpiled like everyone else, buying complete liquor stores, robbing drug stores, and holding up trains that carried industrial alcohol. They smuggled liquor from Canada, bootlegged, made bathtub gin, along with rotgut moonshine. Anyone who wanted to make a buck off of America’s thirst, opened basements, garages, backrooms, and closets where a patron could enjoy a little nip for a few coins. Much of this peddled liquor, foul tasting and dangerous, contained industrial alcohol.

Hence, the creation of the fancy cocktail! These fruity or creamy drinks covered the taste of tainted chemicals. Alleys and closets gave way to fancier nightclubs. In order to gain access to these up-scale party places, a customer had to know someone or at least have a password to get in. Speakeasies became the happening places of the evening.

The federal government now frustrated and at a loss to explain why people kept drinking, ordered quinine, methyl alcohol and other toxic chemicals added to industrial alcohol. Certainly, the risk of drinking these chemicals would deter even the most foolhardy.

It didn’t. Many people became blind and numerous others died.

When a flapper and her crowd went out on the town for the night, they knew blindness or even death might be just one cocktail away. Some flappers carried their own booze, hidden in places like a hollowed-out walking cane or a flask tuck snuggly in their garter. Were these garters the forerunners of today’s conceal carry?

Flappers tucked other items such as knives and Derringers in their garters, because death in the world of a flapper came in many forms.

What better story could there be than the young run-away teen in The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker, who navigates the thrilling, dangerous streets of Chicago in 1923, hoping to find happiness and love.

Now for an Excerpt: 

Kathleen continued, “You said you wished you could go to college with me. What if we could go somewhere together, not to college, but someplace where we could dance and act and you could sing? I bet with our talents, we could turn this horrid world into something much more joyful—help make it one big party.”


“How?” Sophie’s eyes opened wide.


“We’ll go where you won’t have to teach kids piano, or act or dance, unless you want. You’ll be able to sing your heart out and, who knows, maybe even write your own songs.”


“My mother would never let me.” Sophie looked off into the near distance.


“Sophie, we’ll get to wear sparkly dresses. And wouldn’t you love to wear those modern, classy clothes? We’d bob our hair even shorter, wear lipstick, and be around people who know how to have fun and not have a care in the world.” Sophie should see the photos in Kathleen’s collection of theater magazines again. Then she’d be excited too.


“I’m sick of funerals and consoling others,” Kathleen continued.


“Look at how miserable Dolly is. Aren’t you tired of that too? We’d be around progressive people, thinking people, people who know how to make the most out of life. They’re searching for talent, Sophie. We’ll fit right in.”


“Where, Kathleen? No one much appreciates our abilities here.”


“Chicago. There are all sorts of openings for attractive young ladies with well-turned ankles and voices like canaries. That’s what the advertisements say.”


About the Author:


Charlene Bell Dietz’s award-winning mystery novels The Flapper, the Scientist, and the Saboteur combines family saga with corporate espionage, and The Flapper, the Impostor, and the Stalker propels readers back into 1923 in frenetic Chicago. The Scientist, the Psychic, and the nut gives readers a frightening Caribbean vacation. Her latest novel The Spinster, the Rebel, and the Governor is a historical biography about Lady Margaret Brent, the first American woman to be called an attorney, whose integrity and intelligence saves pre-colonial Maryland from devastation. This book won the New Mexico Press Women’s first place award and an award by the National Press Women. The Spinster, the Rebel, and the Governor will be released as a second edition by Artemesia Press in February 2024. Two of her Flapper books have won the coveted Kirkus stars, and two were named best book of 2018. Charlene, a retired educator, lives in the foothills of the mountains in central New Mexico where abundant wildlife, solitude, and natures’ beauty inspires her creativity.


Connect with Charlene:

chardietzpen@gmail.com

https://inkydancestudios.com/

https://www.facebook.com/charlene.dietz.9/


Buy Links:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/charlene%20bell%20dietz/_/N-8q8

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=charlene+bell+dietz&crid=2WD20WVLC2LSK&sprefix=%2Caps%2C225&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_1_0_recent

https://treasurehousebooks.net/product-tag/charlene-bell-dietz/


The book will be $0.99 during the tour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Book Blast - An Eye For the Highest and Best by Dr. Nancy-Angel Doetzel

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Dr. Nancy-Angel Doetzel will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Living in this world of such disruption and uncertainty can result in us facing despair. How can we attune to the rainbow after a storm, and create hope and happiness? How do we develop an eye for the Highest and Best, when faced with what appears to be the worst? What steps should we take to reconnect with our ability to be resilient?

In this book, Dr. Doetzel shares some important insights gained from her own experiences of teaching university, battling cancer, being a journalist, travelling worldwide, dealing with grief, and facing the global pandemic. Along the way, she introduces her readers to fresh ways of viewing their lives, by applying an Appreciative Inquiry lens that inspires the practice of a more conscious way of living, resulting in discovering serenity.

Readers may start to re-examine their own challenges, while discovering their own gems that warrant gratitude. The reflective questions and stories suggest ways of removing blocks to happiness and constructing healthier relationships.

The book is also an ideal tool for educators to apply to teaching Appreciative Inquiry as a qualitative research methodology.

Read an Excerpt

While attending a church service in a Mexican Cathedral, Angel’s phone had fallen out of her purse. Reaching for it later, intending to make a call, she suddenly notices it was missing. Frantically, she rushed to the hotel front desk to inquire how she could contact the Cathedral. When she arrived, the hotel clerk was holding her golden cell phone, while still looking for an identification on it.

After identifying her cell phone, the clerk told her the story of the person who had turned it in. The lady had picked up the phone in the Cathedral, under a bench. She then noticed a hotel key in the phone case slot, which matched her own hotel key. So, when she returned to the hotel after mass, she gave the cell phone to the front desk attendant.

Angel believed having her cell phone returned by someone staying at the same hotel and attending a common church service, was a miracle in action, and she was tempted to share the story with the police officer, after he checked for her phone.

About the Author:

Dr. Nancy-Angel Doetzel has been teaching in the Sociology Faculty of Mount Royal University since 2006, and as a seasonal sessional instructor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary since 2005.

An award-winning scholar, journalist, and musician, she won a Distinguished Dissertation Award for her doctorate dissertation, leading to the publication of her two books: Cultivating Spirituality in Education: Synergizing Heart and Mind and Old Heart Child's Eyes: A Diary of Miracles. In 2017, her students at Mount Royal University honoured her with a Teaching Excellence Award. In 2018 her students also acknowledged her for promoting wellbeing and good health within the classroom, and for being a good mentor. She received her MA, HBA, HBSW, and BA degrees from Lakehead University.

She received her PhD from the University of Calgary in 2004. She studied Intuitive Medicine in Vancouver and received a professional certification (I.C.A.D.C) from the Canadian Council of Professional Certification. She also was awarded a Broadcasting Radio and Television diploma from Confederation College. She encourages her students to examine the world through different lenses, exercising altruism, promoting social justice, and learning to be a good sociologist.

Her Mount Royal University blog is titled, Debunking Deceptive Myths. In addition to her recently published books, she has also authored and published eight scholarly articles in her field.

In February 2020, the Calgary Herald, rated one of her books (a pre-amble to this one) as a local best seller. She is currently conducting research about complementary medicine and continuing to teach at Mount Royal University.

Aside from teaching and conducting research, Dr. Doetzel has hosted a radio show "From the Heart," airing on AM 1140 High River, for the past 10 years. She has recorded four albums of her own original songs.

Website: https://drnancyangeldoetzel.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.nancyangeldoetzel/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Eye-Highest-Best-Practicing-Appreciative/dp/0995992339

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Blurb Blitz - Non-Binary, Trans, Pan and Lovesick by ES Corby

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Sex is awkward! Gender is confusing!

Discovering his gender and sexual identities in the lonely dungeon of the pandemic, Echo Corby found an outlet through poetry. Graduating high school as everyone was thrust into isolation, friends were hard to find and love was even harder. Loneliness made him crave connection even more, but what did he like and who would love him?

Piecing together the queer world, Corby uses comedy and anecdote to express the uncomfortable ins and awkward outs of gender, sex, love and all outrage that comes with categorization. This collection of autobiographical poetry is a form of release and expression of the vibrant emotions that so many of the LGBTQIA+ community struggle with.

Corby prides himself as an open-book. The vulnerability enclosed within these pages proves as much.

Read an Excerpt

I Think My Dog is Transgender

I think my dog might be transgender.
But how am I supposed to tell?
She lifts her leg when she pees and mounts other dogs as a display of dominance,
Maybe that means little to nothing. I know another dog and though arthritis-ridden and old, she still tries to hump me when I sit on their couch.
Again,
How to tell?
Again,
How do we know?
Again,
They are animals,
Incapable of speech,
Incapable of grasping our humanly concept of gender.

What do I mean?
*You remind me of breeding pairs*
Yes, yes. Sexuality. Sexual relationships. The concept of conception.
Sexuality is not gender,
Gender is human made.
Gender is being a man or a woman or something in between, neither or both.
It is not the same as having testicles or ovaries—As we all know.
Transgender, nonbinary, androgynous, genderqueer, gender nonconforming.
Forgive me, I’m not in mourning,
When you say sexuality used to be the same as gender.

It’s not anymore.
It’s strange and it’s complex,
It causes confusion in oneself,
And every word in every text,
That you send to your grandma, explaining what you are.
It means decision and revision
Until you’re tired.

But if animals could understand and vouch for such a thing,
And weren’t scared of it like the furry thing is when there’s a chair in the wrong spot,
Maybe my dog would want to be transgender.
We have no way of knowing, therefore animals can’t choose.
Nor can babies when they exit the womb.
“Mama,” “Dada”—they label us at their first words,
But we label them long before that.
“It’s a boy!” the father cries with a burst of blue confetti,
“It’s a girl!” to a ring of applause.
I once heard someone say, “It’s not a gender reveal, it’s a genitalia reveal.”

Before the umbilical cord is severed,
When baby is still part of surrogate,
They are labeled and they are bound.
They haven’t detached, become their own person,
Their own human,
Yet they are represented as a binary singular.

When will the detainment and constrainment of pink not pertain to a girl?
When will baby blue not bespeak to a boy?
Have a baby,
Call them “they.”
I wouldn’t have it another way,
When gender is as acidic and corrosive as it is.

We choose for our creatures and our spawn,
Because they are subhuman, sub-decision before they can talk.
The decision comes from their privates,
Just like in animals,
And they must exist as thus.
Therefore, choosing a gender besides what your reproductive organs are will always be the minority.

About the Author:

Having started writing “seriously” as an ignorant fourteen-year-old, Echo has progressed in his writing and editing skills since finding the inspiration in middle school. His whole life, his imagination has always driven him in the creative writing and arts fields. The imagination of childhood has never left him but has evolved into something malleable to his career and tolerable in his vocabulary and sentence structure. Echo’s writing and other creative endeavors have deep relevance to his personal life, as his characters, world and themes always reflect aspects of his personality and identity in ways that may go beyond the average reader’s comprehension. Often writers add elements of themselves to their characters, as it is easier to write what we know, but Echo goes beyond that in exploring deeply sentimental to traumatic elements in his life as a form of therapy for himself and others tackling similar internal conflicts. As a trans masc, nonbinary, pansexual man discovering his identity in the middle of a pandemic, his writing also acts as a way of exploring himself deeper as well as dealing with mental health issues he has been struggling with his whole life. Writing is both deeply personal for him and also something he has always wanted to share with the world. He feels emotions are better told then hidden and that building a community is extremely important to recovery and rejuvenation.

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Nonbinary-Trans-Pan-Lovesick-Corby/dp/B0BYTNKDZV

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Book Blast - Happiness Mountain by Amal Indi

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Amal Indi will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Happiness is the most important experience that we as human beings seek throughout our entire lives. Yet there is no one clear definition of happiness in the world today.

How, then, can we expect to be happy to our fullest if we do not know what happiness is?

Everyone has happy moments in life. Suppose you are awake sixteen hours a day after eight hours of sleep—how much time are you truly happy in these sixteen hours?
If you are happy only 20 percent of your day, you will not feel truly happy in life.
If you are happy 50 percent of your day, you will feel like you have an OK life.
If you are happy 60 percent or above, you are living a happy life.
If you are happy 80 percent and above, you’re living a phenomenally happy life.
What if you could change the times that you are not happy to happy moments?

If you want to get better at something, you must study and become proficient in that subject. You do not know what you are missing if you do not learn. The same principle applies to happiness. If you want to be happier, study what happiness is. If happiness is important to you, master it.

By knowing happiness, you can consciously live a happier life. You can minimize the external factors impacting your happiness. You can get happiness under your control.

Irrespective of where you are in life today, by reading this book and following the happiness definition, philosophy, and methodology, you or anyone can live a happier life.

Read an Excerpt

I love to compare our minds to computers; computers are a manifestation of humans and parallel our thinking in several ways. When you purchase a new computer, there is a processor, SSD drive, graphics card, operating system, programs, etc. However, installing a reliable virus scanner is left up to the user.

Viruses in our computers can take on many forms, potentially damaging them, including affecting the hardware. A virus can cause the computer to malfunction.

I find this to be the same when looking at our minds. Think of your mind as a computer—you have a processor that I relate to your decision-making power. You are born with a unique human operating system of love, compassion, kindness, acceptance, forgiveness, patience, etc. In addition, there are many programs running at the same time, like your work, cooking dinner, going to the gym, or spending time with a loved one. The programs are your thoughts.

What if a virus were to come along and interfere with these programs, interrupting the flow and hindering you from being the best person you can be? Thought Bugs are much like computer viruses, and can affect your mind.

Thought Bugs can destroy the foundation of your greatness. The majority of people in the world suffer from negative energy created by their minds. This energy created by Thought Bugs will block your potential to lead a happy and fulfilling life. If you do not take control of your Thought Bugs, your mind will suffer from them for your whole life.

About the Author:

With over 20 years of experience working for financial institutions as a Solutions Architect, Amal set out on a mission to find true happiness. After researching happiness for many years, he is ready to share a definition, philosophy, and methodology for happiness so that anyone can follow and find true happiness with inner peace, joy, and fulfillment. He has written an incredible book called “Happiness Mountain – Make every experience a happy experience”. Amal is also a father of two kids and lives in beautiful Vancouver, Canada. Amal’s mission is to heal the world and allow everyone to enjoy true happiness.

Find out more on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBSXPNHM

Or visit

http://www.happinessmountain.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amal-indi-6874064/
https://www.facebook.com/happinessmountain.inc/
https://www.spreaker.com/show/happiness-mountain
https://www.instagram.com/happiness_mountain/

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Book Blast - Moccasin Trace by Hawk MacKinney

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Hawk MacKinney will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on he tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

It is July of 1859, a month of sweltering dog days and feverish emotional bombast. Life is good for widower Rundell Ingram and his hazel-eyed, roan-haired son, Hamilton. Between the two of them, they take care of Moccasin Hollow, their rustic dogtrot ancestral home, a sprawling non-slave plantation in the rolling farming country outside Queensborough Towne in east Georgia. Adjoining Ingram lands is Wisteria Bend, the vast slave-holding plantation of Andrew and Corinthia Greer, their daughter Sarah and son Benjamin.

Both families share generations of long-accepted traditions, and childhood playmates are no longer children. Against this rustic idyll of hard work and gracious living comes inflexible discord and divided loyalties that mutilate ties of blood and bond, tearing at their lives as smoke and battle no longer so faraway crashes and maims ever closer. Ahead of the on-coming ranks of Blue, foragers and bumlers burn, loot, scavenge and kill. Hamilton faces agonizing sacrifices with dreadful consequences. With little else than his wits, he tries anything to protect Sarah, their unborn child, his sickly father, and Sarah's family.

Read an Excerpt

Like the proper exemplary young lady, a bored Sarah quietly sat in the drawing room, daintily sipped her tea, thinking how they'd be here for hours with this meaningless chitchat, and wishing she was out riding, wishing she was anywhere but here. .

Bessie stood to one side, tryin' not to think of Sam. 'Membered Mistress Corinth'a calling these folks merchants. Mistress was right, these were uppity folk with no manners. .

"It's understandable you're being so busy," Abigail sighed. "There's simply not enough time to do all the things a body must do to get ready for the Saint Catherine's Christmas Ball." She placed her Wedgwood cup and saucer just so on the marble-top tea table. .

"Of course," Corinthia fastened on a charming smile. "Charlestown is all the talk." .

Abigail leaned close, intimate, "I spoke with Jonathan. He wouldn't hear of taking time off, spending the season in Charlestown. Heaven knows it would've done him a world of good. I told him if the Greers and Ingrams are going, the very least we could certainly do is be in Charlestown to welcome our Queensborough friends." Her immaculate French maid hurried in with more tea and an array of sweets. .

Corinthia sipped with her smile fixed in place...showy hanger-on. Being invited to Charlestown's Saint Catherine's Ball the week of Christmas was all the talk, not only of Georgia and South Carolina, but considerably beyond. Invitations had come through Andrew's cotton and tobacco friends. Corinthia wasn't about to countenance having anyone think the Whiteheads were their associates. It was strain enough remaining gracious with such interlopers. .

"I surely understand why you're so very excited. Everyone will be there," Corinthia said. .

"I was so relieved they arrived yesterday." Abigail Bothwell Whitehead fairly beamed. "When your man dropped off your note telling me you would call, I was all in a twitter. At the time our invitations hadn't arrived. I immediately sent Jonathan straight to the post office." She rolled her eyes in mock relief. With an insipid smile through a pinched mouth and puckered lips, she gloated, "I was so reassured when he came back with them." She could hardly contain herself, enjoying herself immensely -- the perfect dig at uppity Corinthia Greer. "It will be so grand. Anyone who's anybody will be there." .

Sarah's expression matched her mother's composure; Corinthia's attention never left Abigail. Sarah knew Abigail and how venomous this artless woman could be.

About the Author:

In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk MacKinney has authored several works of fiction—historical love stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his protagonist in the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series: Hidden Chamber of Death, Westobou Gold, Dead Gold, Curse of the Ancients, and Blood of the Dragonfly.

Hawk’s science fiction novels include The Bleikovat Event, Vol I in The Cairns of Sainctuarie Science Fiction Series, followed by Vol II, The Missing Planets, and Vol III, Inanna Phantom.

Hawk MacKinney served in the US Navy for over 20 years. While serving as a Navy Commander, he also had a career as a full-time faculty member at several major state medical facilities. He earned two postgraduate degrees with studies in languages and history. He has taught postgraduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem, Israel. He now makes his home in Augusta, Georgia, where he writes full-time.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/698008.Hawk_MacKinney
Website: https://www.hawkmackinneyauthor.com/
Buy Links: https://www.amazon.com/Moccasin-Trace-Hawk-MacKinney-ebook/dp/B0CB24VY52
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moccasin-trace-hawk-mackinney/1008084042

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Book Blast - A Long Dark Road by Joan Hall Hovey

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Selected Tales of Suspense containing 5 short stories and a novella

“Joan Hall Hovey knows suspense. She keeps it simmering in every scene she writes and knows just the right moments to turn up the heat. She also knows character creating richly layered people to populate her stories, sometimes with no more than a single sentence stocked with perfectly chosen description words or phrases... terrific suspense ."James Hankins, author of Brothers and Bones

“Taut plotting, great characters, and chilling suspense. Abook you can’t put down, exhibits a master’s touch. Alfred Hitchcock would be smiling. - Book Pleasures Review, Steve Moore

Read an Excerpt from "Tragic Spawn" (novella)

Hearing the closing of the front door, her thoughts scattered and she turned around. The faint fall of footsteps was headed in her direction. A smile broke from Melanie. Francie. “Francie, I’m in the bedroom,” she called out. Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. I know I said I’d call you when I was being released from the hospital, but I wanted … she stopped. The footsteps halted in her bedroom doorway, came no farther. Frowning, she thought: No, not Francie standing there. Not her father, either. She would know if it was him. He would speak. A shot of adrenaline shot through her. Someone was there. Someone had followed her into the house. How could she have been so stupid as to forget to lock the back door behind her? What was the matter with her? And then she saw movement in that milky whiteness at the corner of her eye. Felt a shifting of air in front of her. Don’t show fear, came the warning voice inside her mind. Don’t show fear. Stay calm.

“Who is it?”

No answer. The fine hairs prickled on the back of her neck and it was hard to breathe, let alone speak. “Can I help you? Have you come to the wrong house?” She heard the tremor in her voice. Receiving no answer, alarm quickly turned to panic, a reaction that both angered and frightened her.

“Who are you? Instantly, the bit of whiteness at the corner of her eye went dark as a hand touched her cheek and it was as if spider webs were draped over her face and she was suddenly screaming screaming, hands flailing like a mad woman.

About the Author: I've always been drawn to the dark side of our human psyche, and devoured everything from Edgar Allan Poe to Shirley Jackson growing up and later Ruth Rendell and Stephen King and so many more wonderful writers than I could list here. It was my dream to become a published writer for as long as I can remember, and have written eight novels. My latest book is ‘A Long Dark Road’. My love of reading seemed to go hand-in-hand with the writing.

I grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada's oldest incorporated city, situated on the Bay of Fundy. I married young and had four incredible children, three boys and a girl. My eldest son passed away in 2018, of ALS, which was the moment I knew I was in control of nothing. Nothing at all. And how it feels to have your heart shredded, slowly. But still, we must be grateful for what we have.

When the children were still small we moved to Gondola Point, where we lived in a modest home my husband built, overlooking the Kennebecasis River. Lots of lovely tall pine trees and bird song. It was country then, but no more. We lived there happily with various beloved pets over the years. People often remarked that the view must be inspiring, and it was, but the truth is when I was at my computer, my back was to the river, my head already filled with characters and scenes as I lived in a world of the imagination.

My husband is gone now, my children grown with children of their own and I moved back to the city to escape the loneliness. I live in a pleasant apartment in a historical part of the city with my sweet calico cat, Bella. From my window, I can see a beautiful old church with the steeple jutting into the sky, and a clock that competes with the moon. It is Sunday morning and the church bells are ringing as I type this.

I hope you enjoy my books!

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1234888.Joan_Hall_Hovey
https://www.facebook.com/joan.h.hovey
https://www.joanhallhoveyauthor.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Dark-Road.../dp/B0C5W58B88
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-long-dark-road-joan-hall-hovey/1143527937

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Excerpt Tour: Murder at the Zoo by Marcia Rosen

 It's a blog tor and this one looks fantastic. Murder at the Zoo by Marcia Rosen. You'll want to keep reading. Why? There are prizes to be won in addition to the fantastic book to read. What's being given away? Marcia Rosen will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. How cool is that? Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour. You can do that here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2023/06/virtual-excerpt-tour-murder-at-zoo-by.html

Murder at the Zoo

An Agatha, Raymond, Sherlock and Me Mystery

by Marcia Rosen

A body is tossed into the lion’s habitat at the zoo where Miranda Scott is the senior vet. She and Detective Bryan Anderson join forces to unravel that mystery and several more murders. A fan since childhood of Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, and Sherlock Holmes they seem to live in her head frequently telling her what to do…and not do. Murders, family, deceit, revenge and a gangster father and godfather often get in the way of a fine romance between Miranda and the Detective.

Now for an Excerpt:

Wilson grabbed her arm and pulled her up, “Get your boss and security guard over here. Let them know there’s been another murder at the Zoo.”

Miranda looked at Bryan who shrugged his shoulders. There was nothing he could do. Not now. She knew she should have trusted him.

“One of these days you’re going to learn to trust me, “ he whispered to her.

By the time Emma and George arrived, the Medical Examiner and her photographer were already busy with the body. Forensics was checking the area around it.

The Zoo was lit up and getting more and more hectic. The scene outside grew bolder and brighter as once again press and television cameras arrived. Two new Vet Interns and several Vet Technicians showed up as well. Apparently, social media was in full gossip.

Police cars, an ambulance, and even a fire engine arrived just in case. Their sirens could be heard racing through the city to the Zoo. When the news went out over the police monitor, the response grew to unnecessary proportions.

“You know, it seems there’s a rhythm to this type of chaos. I always find it fascinating that everyone’s movements are carefully calculated in order not to disturb the body or possible evidence. You can learn so much by watching the reactions,” Agatha said.

Then the obnoxious state senator showed up at the murder scene. Wilson had called him. He was always looking to make points with the senator. The senator was always looking to be a media star, and this story was made for his ego.

Wilson and State Senator Matthew Graham had met years earlier. Each found a way to serve the other’s purpose. Neither had the will of the people or justice as their primary interest.

The press was shouting questions at the 62-year-old Graham, who was only too glad to oblige them, as he straightened his tie and pushed back the few wisps of hair he had left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author:

Marcia Rosen (aka M. Glenda Rosen), award winning author of eleven books including The Senior Sleuths and Dying To Be Beautiful Mystery Series and The Gourmet Gangster: Mysteries and Menus (Menus by her son Jory Rosen). She is also author of The Woman’s Business Therapist and award winning My Memoir Workbook. For 25 years she was owner of a successful national marketing and public relations agency, Marcia has frequently been a speaker and/or program moderator at organization meetings and conferences, bookstores, libraries and Zoom Programs. Topics she has taught and presented over the past twenty years include: Encouraging the Writer Within You, Marketing for Authors, Writing Mysteries…Not A Mystery, Writing Your Memoir and recently “Anatomy of Writing A Murder.” Many articles on these topics have been published on mystery reader blogs and in newsletters and magazines including “Mystery Scene Magazine” and “Mystery Reader International Journal.”

She is a member of Sisters in Crime National and New Mexico (Croak & Dagger), Southwest Writers, New Mexico Book Association, Women Writing the West, Public Safety Writer’s Association, and National Association of Independent Writers and Editors—for which she is also a board member. www.MarciaRosen.com

“Marcia Rosen's new book is hard to put down! The characters are engaging and you enjoy getting to know them as you read this mystery. I enjoyed discovering the world and people in Murder at the Zoo and can't wait to read more from this author!”  ~ Cat Harper, National Steinbeck Center


Links:

Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Agatha-Raymond-Sherlock-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0BNNYB5X6

B&N.com: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murder-at-the-zoo-m-glenda-rosen/1141672342

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A Voice Out of Poverty by Jillian Haslam

It's a blog tour and you'll want to stick around. There are prizes to be won and this looks like a fantastic book. What can you win? One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour. You can do that here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2023/06/fs-vbt-voice-out-of-poverty-by-jillian.html

A Voice Out of Poverty

by Jillian Haslam

A woman’s ascent from devastating poverty and childhood trauma to international standing as a prominent advocate for the poor and helpless.

As a young girl, Jillian Haslam saved a life. Herself tiny and aching from malnutrition, she stood for hours at a tea shop, begging for a ladle of milk to try and prevent her newborn sister from dying of starvation.

From the slums of Calcutta to the executive floors of a global bank, A Voice out of Poverty offers an unflinching look at one woman’s journey from destitution to success.

Throughout, Haslam demonstrates an inexhaustible drive to rise above adversity and find beacons of positivity in impossible circumstances. But her rise doesn’t stop at the top; she returns to her roots again and again to extend a hand to those left in the impoverished communities that she so narrowly escaped.

British by ancestry and born in India after its independence, Haslam and her family suffered degradation and prejudice. They were forced to live on the streets, flee danger in the middle of the night, and face persistent abuse and starvation.

This treacherous environment is the backdrop of an unlikely story of resilience and an unshakable family bond. From squalor and powerlessness, Haslam finds countless moments of grace, community, gratitude, and love.

A Voice out of Poverty is a raw and inspiring memoir that shows how beauty can be found in improbable places, and how “success” is not just the act of making it through. Rather, it is the act of reaching back to bring others with you.

 

Now for an interview with the author: 

What are your favorite TV shows?

Heartland, Succession, Breaking Bad, Yorkshire Vets and a few others

What is your favorite meal?

Stew & Rice

If you were to write a series of novels, what would it be about?

How to Overcome Adversity

Is there a writer you idolize? If so who?

Lord Robert Winston because he manages to explain the most complex topics like the working of the human brain in a simple and understandable way.

How did you come up for the title of this book?

It was a joint effort on the part on my Publicist and myself.

Now for an Excerpt: 

One day my mother took Vanessa and me to see Mr. Nazareth, a kindly family friend. Mr. Nazareth was a tall, dark, South Indian, Christian gentleman in his late forties, who my parents had met through a mutual acquaintance and in the past helped my father find work. Mr. Nazareth was blessed with a charitable heart. Poor himself, he was always smartly dressed, a habit from his father who had worked closely with the British Army during British rule. His family had worked for the British Army and he always wore perfectly pressed shirts and trousers and behaved like an absolute gentleman.

DUM DUM 5

Seeing Mr. Nazareth was a high point for Vanessa and me. He never failed to have a bag of Muri Balls ready for us. Flavored with cardamom, ginger, and coconut, and the size of a golf ball, Muri Balls were made from puffed rice, honey, and jaggery—an unrefined sugar. They were super sweet and light and a huge treat. Each time we saw Mr. Nazareth he’d have a bunch for us wrapped in a paper packet called a thonga.

But my mother didn’t take us to him to indulge our sweet teeth. My mother sought his guidance regarding where and how we should live, which we desperately needed. He asked us to return two days later with my father.

We returned as requested and gathered with him into the crowded small living space in his two-room home. My parents perched on his two cane stools called moras and he, hands on his knees, sat upright on his sole dining chair. Vanessa and I sat on the floor and leaned against the wall, devouring the obligatory Muri Balls as fast as humanly possible.

“I’d like to make you a proposition,” he said. His tone was more formal than normal, like a CEO leading a discussion with staff. He paused to emphasize the moment and continued.

“I have spoken to a friend who would like to open a school for the poor in Dum Dum. The area is desperately short of such facilities, so many children in need.”

“I see,” said my father, with a tone of respect, “but why are you telling us?”

“I would like you, Roland, to be the principal and Margaret the teacher. I want you to teach the children to speak and learn English. But beyond that, I want to offer you all a place to live. You cannot go on like this.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Embrace Adversity, Unleash Greatness!

Once upon a time, in the heart of adversity, there lived a young girl named Jillian Haslam. Born into abject poverty in the city of Kolkata, her life seemed destined for despair. But little did the world know that within those hardships lay the seeds of greatness and resilience.

Jillian's childhood was filled with struggles, facing hunger, homelessness, and the harsh realities of poverty. However, amidst the gloom, she discovered a glimmer of hope - education. Determined to change her fate, Jillian pursued knowledge with fervor, knowing that education was her ticket to a better life.

Through sheer determination and hard work, Jillian excelled in her studies. She didn't let

her circumstances define her, but instead, she let them fuel her dreams. Every challenge she faced became a stepping stone towards her ultimate goal - to break free from the shackles of poverty and create a life of abundance.

As the years passed, Jillian's unwavering spirit caught the attention of a kind soul who offered her a chance to work for a prestigious organization. This opportunity opened doors she could only dream of before. With dedication and passion, Jillian climbed the ladder of success, proving that her past could not hold her back.

But Jillian's journey didn't stop there. Instead of forgetting her roots, she embraced her past and used it as a powerful tool to drive change. She founded initiatives to help underprivileged children like herself, providing them with the gift of education and hope. 

Today, Jillian stands tall as a beacon of inspiration and a symbol of turning adversity into golden opportunities. Her voice echoes through her book, A Voice Out of Poverty, touching countless hearts and motivating others to rise above their circumstances.

In the face of challenges, lies the key to your transformation. Embrace your struggles, for they hold the power to unlock your true potential. Rise above adversity and let your resilience shine, turning every experience into a golden opportunity for growth and success! 

#EmbraceTheJourney #UnleashYourPotential #TurningStrugglesIntoTriumphs #Adversity

About the Author:



Jillian Haslam is a remarkable individual with expertise in speaking on adversity and Resilience

With a distinguished 23-year career in banking, she brings a wealth of industry knowledge to her engagements. As an acclaimed author, her books A Voice Out of Poverty and 9 Steps to Overcome Adversity-A Handbook for Life have garnered critical acclaim including the prestigious Kirkus Star Review! Her extraordinary journey has earned her accolades, including the prestigious Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for her humanitarian contributions.

Jillian's unique perspective and powerful storytelling have made her a sought-after speaker on the topics of adversity and resilience. She has inspired audiences around the world with her transformative message, helping individuals and organizations overcome challenges and achieve remarkable results. Her insights have been featured in major media outlets, including The Times, The Telegraph, The BBC, and The Week. Through her speaking engagements, Jillian empowers individuals and teams to harness the power of resilience, navigate adversity, and unlock their full potential. Her profound impact continues to resonate with audiences from various backgrounds, fostering a culture of strength, growth, and success.

Jillian Haslam's expertise as a speaker on adversity and resilience, coupled with her extensive banking experience, has made her a trusted voice in the field. Her ability to inspire and guide others through their own journeys of overcoming obstacles sets her apart, making her a valuable asset to any event or organization seeking to cultivate resilience and achieve exceptional success.

Jillian currently lives in London with her husband.

Connect with her here:

www.jillianhaslam.com

https://www.amazon.com/Voice-Out-Poverty-Achieve-Adversity-ebook/dp/B0BX48B964

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/58948875

https://www.jillianhaslam.com/book

https://www.facebook.com/jillian.haslam

https://www.facebook.com/IndianEnglishTheMovie

https://twitter.com/JillianHaslam

https://www.instagram.com/jillian.haslam/

 

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