tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44467573419137388952024-03-18T01:00:32.909-07:00Arizona Authors AssociationVijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.comBlogger255125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-44672713761813885542024-03-18T01:00:00.015-07:002024-03-18T01:00:00.260-07:00New Release: Her Wild Yellow Rose by Sally Harper Bates<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Roses-Sally-Harper-Bates/dp/B0CN85X9VB" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="284" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzruLkGM3d1TTahFWJ5WHP2LRAslHM32OcYrBNBucHzVh_TDziHvUHrabZEgbKkSXKsaA9FHhx4af7w8kqZ9yqhTWuJd2EwBfxXRuaQrnCJsG72gaBT5obpf1RhMKNySOhyUkyYSsW_l-eNCdOd5mVXXhG4q8r0vzPA8-_R8dn9Mouzn-SqTcKfNaWeXM/w428-h640/Her%20Wild%20Yellow%20Rose.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click cover for Amazon link</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">How could a single woman with seven children survive in the territory of New Mexico and the early statehood of Arizona? With guts, and grit and a lot of prayer! Born in a covered wagon in New Mexico in 1900, she lived to see men walk on the moon!</span></span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Follow the path of this brave, bold woman as she works her way through stocking shelves in a general store for five cents an hour to finishing school and becoming a registered nurse.</span></div><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Seven children, unique in every way, cause heartache and grief, bring joy and love, grow through a depression, and find their way into the twenty-first century.</span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQ6ObPCHJcM0v45aT6aoPuntTOv0Iw8ABu1RkYfMOzbVomT__f6qFXZypGCB0bQJ6_vcAfZkPPpoPqJoEnwW87tQDApKYRhkrIyBdPGhZ7bhhCD8MMiklE6jPIiNg8abjAK2JeGkdqLjwP70EI0pm2Ye_dGe-TXpC8f0JR9Y70ev6r6QpOk0G3izAK-k/s525/Sally%20Harper%20Bates.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="351" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQ6ObPCHJcM0v45aT6aoPuntTOv0Iw8ABu1RkYfMOzbVomT__f6qFXZypGCB0bQJ6_vcAfZkPPpoPqJoEnwW87tQDApKYRhkrIyBdPGhZ7bhhCD8MMiklE6jPIiNg8abjAK2JeGkdqLjwP70EI0pm2Ye_dGe-TXpC8f0JR9Y70ev6r6QpOk0G3izAK-k/s320/Sally%20Harper%20Bates.webp" width="214" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;">Sally was born in Prescott, Arizona, and has never lived more than an hour’s drive from the county she grew up in. Her roots run deep into the state; seven generations deep on both sides of her family tree. Raised on ranches and remaining involved in the livestock industry has provided much fodder for her books, poetry and photography.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;"><br /></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;">She’s been writing most of her life, but only seriously began publishing for the past ten years. She started a small publishing company just to help friends get their books in print, and to date there are over 50 books on her website. She’s honored and amazed at the awards on her wall from Women Writing the West, New Mexico Arizona Book Awards, and five author/publisher awards from Will Rogers Medallion Awards.</span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;"><br /></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;">She and her husband, Pat, have a small home in Chino Valley where she continues to write and create when she’s not helping with family. She’s a mother of two daughters, a teacher and a nurse practitioner, with four granddaughters and six great grandchildren.</span></div></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-19808506174905020242024-03-11T01:00:00.001-07:002024-03-11T01:00:00.137-07:00Introducing Tai-Chi in my next series - by Vijaya Schartz<p> <span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">As I’m writing the last book of the Blue Phantom series, set in the Azura Universe (Angel Revenge – October 2024) I wonder about the theme of my next science fiction series. There will be a little fantasy, of course, (Magic is only science we do not yet understand). A strong heroine is a must and I already have her. As for my next hero, I’m thinking of making him a Tai-Chi man.</span></p><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2_NvPz4WvrzVHtb8ja-ySFqioTvXUTZzzTv6WMOd9wwox7hY-aBUCt-Ej9IEOAzI3di4D0ypAFA2or31s4U5J-2G2uGqG8TOQFCk80HB5qJpBQdS_GqKigkz1fwUob_d8mwAzx57ooQSiMUX8MXeidwOvloWa63tTIutzLyppHufbQ4gLJX5VLjeu3CK/s474/Tai-chi%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="474" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2_NvPz4WvrzVHtb8ja-ySFqioTvXUTZzzTv6WMOd9wwox7hY-aBUCt-Ej9IEOAzI3di4D0ypAFA2or31s4U5J-2G2uGqG8TOQFCk80HB5qJpBQdS_GqKigkz1fwUob_d8mwAzx57ooQSiMUX8MXeidwOvloWa63tTIutzLyppHufbQ4gLJX5VLjeu3CK/w400-h346/Tai-chi%201.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></span><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I have been practicing Tai-Chi daily for over a decade, and teaching it for years, and for some reason I never used it for a character in a book. So, for the start of my next series, one of the protagonists will be a Tai-Chi practitioner.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In a violent universe often at war and fighting back evil forces, the art of Tai-Chi, a soft and graceful martial discipline might offer a different perspective. Tai-Chi works with energy gathered from all around us.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCpmdr9qt4XDP341pyzEb0D6rroDJrHUpaVpy3d2NNEwcb7LcapswKZt-MLQMv9Fuv7QyeX4XRvfZSOLlJ_fEJHhmG5Bfuq1nXyenMFTh52E6JW0o0Cbc66n31tJCNI68p7ftPE8NM8H7VkLw6_1mwBtbehd8yRi9NIJN0v7v3gKxrxggXMp5zxl8nFIi/s1600/tai-chi%202.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1084" data-original-width="1600" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbCpmdr9qt4XDP341pyzEb0D6rroDJrHUpaVpy3d2NNEwcb7LcapswKZt-MLQMv9Fuv7QyeX4XRvfZSOLlJ_fEJHhmG5Bfuq1nXyenMFTh52E6JW0o0Cbc66n31tJCNI68p7ftPE8NM8H7VkLw6_1mwBtbehd8yRi9NIJN0v7v3gKxrxggXMp5zxl8nFIi/w400-h271/tai-chi%202.webp" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></span><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Long ago, in imperial China, this secret Marcial Art was practiced by the feudal Chen and Yang families, hence the two main different styles. Chen is more aggressive, and Yang more flowing, but both are deadly.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Intrigued by this secret technique, the emperor summoned the heads of the Chen and Yang families and ordered them to teach his guard the secret art of Tai-Chi. Since they could not refuse the emperor, the two clans taught Tai-Chi not as a Martial Art, but rather as a dance or an exercise for health purposes. So, the fighting applications of each movement were lost in the official Tai-Chi spread through imperial China.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But through the centuries, the Chen and Yang families kept the secret fighting techniques for themselves. Today, with all the dissemination of information, many of these secrets have resurfaced, and although most Chinese masters are reluctant to teach these techniques to Westerners, a few of their students have come forward to teach in the West.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was lucky to find a teacher who knew about these fighting applications, and as a practitioner of many other martial arts over the years, (Aikido black belt and instructor, Karate, Judo, sword, etc.) I jumped at the opportunity to learn this technique.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJeYWXgpPOaG_HE2BFAOrUF5oylyEwlOs0x3u4ofUMRRspt9l0HvhQNDk872XZ8EIWLo3FkHc-WE1QjMnbuBEd8zR9Oq4_E25Nbhr7zFY7-mwDuBpqZNHNpLbQ53YxD7J_2lEQBF9BzQr0TX7WjhF9VlCqDEzicK3Yqba1pdzbXjBILb6R5O3St8uXQPZ/s320/tai-chi%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMJeYWXgpPOaG_HE2BFAOrUF5oylyEwlOs0x3u4ofUMRRspt9l0HvhQNDk872XZ8EIWLo3FkHc-WE1QjMnbuBEd8zR9Oq4_E25Nbhr7zFY7-mwDuBpqZNHNpLbQ53YxD7J_2lEQBF9BzQr0TX7WjhF9VlCqDEzicK3Yqba1pdzbXjBILb6R5O3St8uXQPZ/s1600/tai-chi%203.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tai-Chi is for everyone, young or old. It has been called stillness in motion. The health benefits have been studied at Harvard Medical School and definitively proven. It’s a long list. Find a Tai-Chi school near you. There are videos on U-Tube. Or watch movies like “Man of Tai-Chi” on Plex with Keanu Reeves as a villain, or “Shang Chi and the legend of the Ten Rings” with Simu Liu.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjICpXMQP7y_t1FV_8QTCEvjcrS9YWVZX-hZkHM6iLBkixSa_48BdPtS3Lnt71IEr-qL0RMp5mAgw_sVxo2_8F2KFxJwUVk0EOaE9YNw8_odWdCJKVsc8yhYWyZlaUb2vmi3rkweAOuco4uimnCYmJkLCDWrabENclPVyA_prL5z7t0Gk5VQRo4pCaUHdP/s1200/tai-chi%204.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjICpXMQP7y_t1FV_8QTCEvjcrS9YWVZX-hZkHM6iLBkixSa_48BdPtS3Lnt71IEr-qL0RMp5mAgw_sVxo2_8F2KFxJwUVk0EOaE9YNw8_odWdCJKVsc8yhYWyZlaUb2vmi3rkweAOuco4uimnCYmJkLCDWrabENclPVyA_prL5z7t0Gk5VQRo4pCaUHdP/w640-h360/tai-chi%204.webp" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><b><span style="font-size: large;">SHANG CHI and the legend of the Ten Rings</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></span><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Through my next series, it will be my privilege to open a window on this ancient Martial Art, and maybe inspire some Westerners to try it. The health benefits alone are worth it.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxFDlMKMVUOWP1JVt6PlyGULut8jdBeZFt1z4qvKOYlJ25UH_1GSZK2xR83eQD3qplDdLd0vh6pX3FULGJQuWT-2ygl30EgGSELC1o1mqkeJaVgxlbxj1RvExFdiumcb2aomYlT5okZQ3LAnZDrKkZJHfBp6E_F8TN2L5ied6LPTjrI6ALSiTqqAMLUGv/s400/Tai%20Chi%20Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="400" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxFDlMKMVUOWP1JVt6PlyGULut8jdBeZFt1z4qvKOYlJ25UH_1GSZK2xR83eQD3qplDdLd0vh6pX3FULGJQuWT-2ygl30EgGSELC1o1mqkeJaVgxlbxj1RvExFdiumcb2aomYlT5okZQ3LAnZDrKkZJHfBp6E_F8TN2L5ied6LPTjrI6ALSiTqqAMLUGv/w640-h432/Tai%20Chi%20Day.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: large;">Tai Chi in the park on Tai Chi Day, a few years ago.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></span><div style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the meantime, you can read about my fighting angels, as they confront evil and demons bent on subjugating the universe. Be prepared for epic space battles.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader">amazon </a>- <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall">B&N</a> - <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz">Smashwords</a> - <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6386912343147794659/6716139134638348621#">Kobo</a></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyJv9mhgP0d4txGQVR2OOlcxuDSQ_mrUTBGuk-UJYNLtgvBLxkSm46LlwyLyTP7FSu5y5dMEbwZ-itHZQukP0c6TPbz-CvetnWgWRQzuQnoc3GOGz23O08XPFY5Xvyu7Xto7kQGZEozkXOhx5vuohIHR5hGjS2XgWtHlEghVLd_NrYRRgps66VscFg7sr/s571/azura%20universe%20sans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="549" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyJv9mhgP0d4txGQVR2OOlcxuDSQ_mrUTBGuk-UJYNLtgvBLxkSm46LlwyLyTP7FSu5y5dMEbwZ-itHZQukP0c6TPbz-CvetnWgWRQzuQnoc3GOGz23O08XPFY5Xvyu7Xto7kQGZEozkXOhx5vuohIHR5hGjS2XgWtHlEghVLd_NrYRRgps66VscFg7sr/w616-h640/azura%20universe%20sans.jpg" width="616" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.vijayaschartz.com/">http://www.vijayaschartz.com</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader">amazon </a>- <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall">B&N</a> - <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz">Smashwords</a> - <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6386912343147794659/6716139134638348621#">Kobo</a></div></span>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-8303604055899406762024-03-04T01:00:00.001-07:002024-03-04T01:00:00.142-07:00New Release: CANYON COWBOY - by Sally Harper Bates<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Canyon-Cowboy-Sally-Harper-Bates/dp/B0CQLG9PMT" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="425" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAvUwKTdGjmRE0-yqKnhGPayPQJ64XsxQQsmupYP_lT26uc4_oWOcWWsgVV_dJrRpepUFYKSgU40hoseSezj9vXUSa7JnnI8csXOiBWetE_XUbO1aMgprjv6QWQUW0dREYtVUPo6eVW2MsaNMag7kmiVHFTg5UcGbNj2PqwYzEW0nd12Y252B8eoaPRw/w640-h640/Canyon%20Cowboy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click on cover to purchase on Amazon</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The fun story about a young cowboy who grew up riding mules. When it came time for him to leave home, where would he go and what would he do where he could remain in the midst of his favorite animals? He finds his way to the great Grand Canyon in Arizona, and spends his life doing what the cowboys do who work at the Grand Canyon Mule Barn.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQ6ObPCHJcM0v45aT6aoPuntTOv0Iw8ABu1RkYfMOzbVomT__f6qFXZypGCB0bQJ6_vcAfZkPPpoPqJoEnwW87tQDApKYRhkrIyBdPGhZ7bhhCD8MMiklE6jPIiNg8abjAK2JeGkdqLjwP70EI0pm2Ye_dGe-TXpC8f0JR9Y70ev6r6QpOk0G3izAK-k/s525/Sally%20Harper%20Bates.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="351" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbQ6ObPCHJcM0v45aT6aoPuntTOv0Iw8ABu1RkYfMOzbVomT__f6qFXZypGCB0bQJ6_vcAfZkPPpoPqJoEnwW87tQDApKYRhkrIyBdPGhZ7bhhCD8MMiklE6jPIiNg8abjAK2JeGkdqLjwP70EI0pm2Ye_dGe-TXpC8f0JR9Y70ev6r6QpOk0G3izAK-k/w214-h320/Sally%20Harper%20Bates.webp" width="214" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;">Sally was born in Prescott, Arizona, and has never lived more than an hour’s drive from the county she grew up in. Her roots run deep into the state; seven generations deep on both sides of her family tree. Raised on ranches and remaining involved in the livestock industry has provided much fodder for her books, poetry and photography.</span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;"><br /></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;">She’s been writing most of her life, but only seriously began publishing for the past ten years. She started a small publishing company just to help friends get their books in print, and to date there are over 50 books on her website. She’s honored and amazed at the awards on her wall from Women Writing the West, New Mexico Arizona Book Awards, and five author/publisher awards from Will Rogers Medallion Awards.</span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;"><br /></span></div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.48px;">She and her husband, Pat, have a small home in Chino Valley where she continues to write and create when she’s not helping with family. She’s a mother of two daughters, a teacher and a nurse practitioner, with four granddaughters and six great grandchildren.</span></div></span></span><p></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-33694161528207694002024-02-26T01:00:00.001-07:002024-02-26T01:00:00.278-07:00Penny’s Two Cents by Penny Orloff<p style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Thighs-Broadway-Misadventures-Trouper/dp/1403398224" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHv9Jl0Eo7cqCk434VED8YE1WoKxQYwOQwtTDOa6-Cc8AXSAwmMB_Y4QXtsEp02Oy5YQMFH_fK6MfHwfEKAm5eQNK5sHFa9zKlqSWzf1-zQ1eRd2DI8Xe_Ov3i5kLTgIxUUM7eysR5bbeJZ4N4XuWssYJOYwkgZh6Uj3TbTN-dpCvPODE7bj624gK4zco/w426-h640/2021awards%20Jewish%20Thighs.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click on cover to purchase on Amazon</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Is it already 2024? Another year rides off into the sunset... Six years, and I’m still procrastinating on my book, Who
Would You Be If You Had Nothing to Bitch About? </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Oh, what to do, what to do… </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Although we feared their individual wrath, my siblings and I really made an effort not to displease both of our
parents at the same time. For, in their ire, together they dreamed up ever-more-dastardly tortures to get us to toe the
mark. By far the worst one The Parents could think of, the one that really got our attention and kept it, was “NO TV
FOR A WEEK!!!”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Aaarrrgghhhh! No Mickey Mouse Club, no Leave It to Beaver, no Superman? Even if joy was certainly not
what Joe and Ruetta Orloff had in mind with so heinous a punishment, those television-less weeks were the birth of
my passion for costume design, the germination of my playwriting skills, the perfection of my double pirouette. After
all, I suddenly had hours of boredom to kill, and kids are nothing if not creative.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So, why not try it—how ‘bout I turn off the TV for a week? That goes for Netflix on the ol’ computer, too.
And the endless scrolling through Facebook and Twitter feeds on the iPhone. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I—who have “no time” to finish that book, practice the piano, become fluent in French—how much time will
I have suddenly exhumed? Might I have found even an hour a day? Half an hour?? If I’m watching TV and/or vegging
online anywhere near the national average of four hours a day—and I am—I’d have more than a thousand hours a
year. Writing at the slow rate of half a page an hour that’s still a pretty hefty book, even after my customary slash-and-burn editing.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">How badly do I want to finish this third book, to see those who believe in me rejoice over my accomplishment?
To revenge myself on the people who doubted me…
Resolution for the New Year: Right now—RIGHT NOW!!—I commit to one measly week without television
and Facebook and Twitter and Netflix and YouTube, no matter what might be happening on ESPN+ or Murder in
Boston. I may like my freedom so much that I never go back. (Yeah, that’ll happen…)</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>Every book seems the struggle of a whole life. And then, when it is done — pouf!
Never happened. Best thing is to get the words down every day. And it is time to
start now.</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>John Steinbeck</i></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kvnjCM0McMkD02cTuGfKOssuIe_bU_xRrn4V2WUZG0lrZBowQHMW0oUKGdmcf1tBqubtF2KZwkdW_y3cFVIHjY6PGbFEl3WZFoFvhO1PXh9iWvlCi3J8G36F-cd7XkLxxt_EW1l2zTvg6RL-yqSFuI4I0czv5RB14QyRh-WP2gE0uCBF06UO79Jq8n4/s497/Penny%20Orloff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="371" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kvnjCM0McMkD02cTuGfKOssuIe_bU_xRrn4V2WUZG0lrZBowQHMW0oUKGdmcf1tBqubtF2KZwkdW_y3cFVIHjY6PGbFEl3WZFoFvhO1PXh9iWvlCi3J8G36F-cd7XkLxxt_EW1l2zTvg6RL-yqSFuI4I0czv5RB14QyRh-WP2gE0uCBF06UO79Jq8n4/w149-h200/Penny%20Orloff.jpg" width="149" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Penny Orloff was a working actress and dancer in LA when she relocated to New York on a Juilliard opera scholarship. She
played featured parts on Broadway after 7 seasons and more than 20 Principal Soprano roles at New York City Opera. Her
solo show, Jewish Thighs on Broadway (based on her award-winning novel, available on Amazon), played off-Broadway
and toured the U.S. for a decade. Her new show, Songs and Stories From a Not-Quite-Kosher Life, is currently touring.
More at <a href="http://www.pennyorloff.com" target="_blank">www.pennyorloff.com</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-20741844372943095392024-02-19T01:00:00.001-07:002024-02-19T01:00:00.133-07:00The Siren Call of Music to Write by Robert Ronning<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Call-Boulder-Field-Adventure/dp/B0BW2ZSLWD" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzT_NDoLM3WxSwOSIBvD38_OKha4Hw-bkjwTyCy_g1BB3ae4zFcAFawbPoJlaU9J1JYVhMo5cDuWvXZMewGTjkadqEmTI76MZ7rhq94WDjr8KuBdSnfY7F4Q5rw5OUrqkBhFRnFpo-m3kFt7DGUo5AxQmlYgz8Db82wx12i30E86femBy28G7Q7tbsHWc/w400-h640/wild%20call%20to%20boulder%20field.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click cover to purchase on Amazon</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I can’t abide silence whether I’m reading or writing. I’ll take music every time, if it offers a pleasant buzz as I write. I
seldom listen to ballads or lyrical works: a singer’s words distract me from the words I’m trying to write. The challenge of
conjuring up a story with the right words is best met with pure instrumentals floating in the background like a pacifier. I do
listen to occasional opera; an aria by Renee Fleming or Kiri Te Kanawa in a language I don’t understand can be a positive
distraction.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I go through phases and different styles of music. Recently I’ve been dipping into New Age, but I’m rather picky: I adore
Ann Sweeten’s romantic piano pieces that stand out from the musical herd of New Agers. Her distinctive style is
recognizable on the first few notes, emotive and dreamy but never soppy. Her siren chords are pleasant and soothing, a muse
to write by. Recently departed Tom Barabas was rather similar—a romantic and distinct pianist.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Of course, I have my daily go-to music, mostly NPR’s classical music covering a whole gamut of musical styles and
periods—its list is long in “long-hair music,” as my dad called it.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I’m currently in a more upbeat mode and going back to the nineties of Willie & Lobo and their lively blend of flamenco
guitar, gypsy riffs, and Willie’s brooding and racing fiddle. How a violin and guitar put out the sound of a rich ensemble is
stunning. Since I write adventure stories, they give me a lift even as I hold to my desk and write. They even make me feel
young again … almost.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aoy9eQdKfmjnkalDNytSS0umyuMlOQnzXY_Trr4-IIQmQ_YTsFCZLqbZFGPNXK94M5t_lyRqvEsZKMTZUxYJ5cj8YrYVhgr24PgWelQwGuXYyVm0EylcRyMyZz322FTHDF0L6XizOYl6LYywIcRPPi-MuQU9wU3XJ7KC5cmGf2TSyR3I5b4xCn6RAu8/s444/Robert%20Ronning.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="331" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3aoy9eQdKfmjnkalDNytSS0umyuMlOQnzXY_Trr4-IIQmQ_YTsFCZLqbZFGPNXK94M5t_lyRqvEsZKMTZUxYJ5cj8YrYVhgr24PgWelQwGuXYyVm0EylcRyMyZz322FTHDF0L6XizOYl6LYywIcRPPi-MuQU9wU3XJ7KC5cmGf2TSyR3I5b4xCn6RAu8/w149-h200/Robert%20Ronning.webp" width="149" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Robert Ronning writes about wildlife and conservation, and published his
adventure novel, Wild Call to Boulder Field in 2023. He and wife Kathleen live in
Tucson and summer in a cabin in Arizona’s White Mountains, a few minutes daily
dog walk from National Forest and wildlife. He considers his proudest
achievements rescuing and assisting the rescue of lost dogs. A recovering
golfer, now an avid Pickleball player, he likes to unwind with a crossword
puzzle. More at <a href="http://www.RobertRonningAuthor.com" target="_blank">www.RobertRonningAuthor.com</a> </div></span><p></p><p><br /></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-50560229218289589742024-02-12T01:00:00.001-07:002024-02-12T01:00:00.139-07:00Science fiction needs a hint of romance <p> </p><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5FTdrn6DySlQq8czqIvdd7GQ9uB-4cbKsZHs0ZjPh28Xk44vx_FiNIXSXve3G_VD4cB7pA2jSnqrf1K2aEi5JUIul1bozSEz49frYy4ugRtEYR774G9b46t1_9zRfU7W2XFt6_7kQWcyX1TCxGZ8YGH-KQ3kC3O_8TbCiAq2XdpR95bqAx1JumQVXf0f_/s1296/Kassouk%20series.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="1296" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5FTdrn6DySlQq8czqIvdd7GQ9uB-4cbKsZHs0ZjPh28Xk44vx_FiNIXSXve3G_VD4cB7pA2jSnqrf1K2aEi5JUIul1bozSEz49frYy4ugRtEYR774G9b46t1_9zRfU7W2XFt6_7kQWcyX1TCxGZ8YGH-KQ3kC3O_8TbCiAq2XdpR95bqAx1JumQVXf0f_/w640-h640/Kassouk%20series.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Find these and more on my BWL page <b><a href="https://bookswelove.net/schartz-vijaya/" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">My love of science fiction started early, when I read DUNE by Frank Herbert. But I always found that these books were written by men and for men. They relied heavily on the technical aspect, and they portrayed male protagonists, with very few female characters. Even the new movie versions of Star Trek are still men-oriented. Star Wars made progress with the last trilogy with Rey as a female Jedi, and more females in the new Disney series. It's about time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCWFFYkXKSHLZzhP0Rt4k1lWYNKUDCjS6Jewwoth8F5GRaIlEJlbuJjL__XV7lyEC00NVopDhRPEQFQY5q24m9Xhna1lgYUuY7oHhsTiYQfzd47rGtr6PbnC4iGuz22zt7FUDCXR3i4C_t3GgIulMmvXeaQEazm26X_xgZDBe_FZE7zaTVRy_lRr9_a8B/s342/Dune.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="228" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMCWFFYkXKSHLZzhP0Rt4k1lWYNKUDCjS6Jewwoth8F5GRaIlEJlbuJjL__XV7lyEC00NVopDhRPEQFQY5q24m9Xhna1lgYUuY7oHhsTiYQfzd47rGtr6PbnC4iGuz22zt7FUDCXR3i4C_t3GgIulMmvXeaQEazm26X_xgZDBe_FZE7zaTVRy_lRr9_a8B/w133-h200/Dune.jpg" width="133" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRcDFV3wwMyzSwWilAPYQFe65miLOfa5gLcG6UXnXa_4yxLU6wQuaKOem7eaQhMOzXTvx3TII3QhUFHeU2BtGsQQMtg_WRl_QPoa62ohZLgnGDfnVyHLIG47he6ISMiBWPwnB_1wg4sZK5hjvpNE2kPGaa_7OIo308Jvzxpe85XGuopuGVg6vx62ejWBP/s445/Dock%205%20linnea%20sinclair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="271" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJRcDFV3wwMyzSwWilAPYQFe65miLOfa5gLcG6UXnXa_4yxLU6wQuaKOem7eaQhMOzXTvx3TII3QhUFHeU2BtGsQQMtg_WRl_QPoa62ohZLgnGDfnVyHLIG47he6ISMiBWPwnB_1wg4sZK5hjvpNE2kPGaa_7OIo308Jvzxpe85XGuopuGVg6vx62ejWBP/w122-h200/Dock%205%20linnea%20sinclair.jpg" width="122" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCrqhhiSlk32qSc9Pei3jveR0CJh3jDFrwzsu08lp753vWynJSwMBwXBXO-owv3UqwoAeaJcTxdVhfoqgOnOpm476RqNpt3I8TUaXc-mhyphenhyphen0oewLdB5NQrsIevW8Ba-h1uShJNlm3MtPZxca3lX0zGAYs0kAnShnh8DGcr2RhvgvwcgZfLq15DbD0LgDin/s425/Darkover%20Marion%20Zimmer%20Bradley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="283" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCrqhhiSlk32qSc9Pei3jveR0CJh3jDFrwzsu08lp753vWynJSwMBwXBXO-owv3UqwoAeaJcTxdVhfoqgOnOpm476RqNpt3I8TUaXc-mhyphenhyphen0oewLdB5NQrsIevW8Ba-h1uShJNlm3MtPZxca3lX0zGAYs0kAnShnh8DGcr2RhvgvwcgZfLq15DbD0LgDin/w133-h200/Darkover%20Marion%20Zimmer%20Bradley.jpg" width="133" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFTttnBzbj1dwl179CWDKfq_nT81wcrq5NKPXKOkf4JyxZ7vPJD0tUY6Ur7IvyQQf2tx_tMr5RFYUI2CodM3S4LOgNfpK-_aqFwvcLOsz-fTFzxszw3xIttxgxRFjFCEME3NgHpKUW8OhRHGbxyiIddRxXkct9FvMCZtksKRC_8DKyYWKNR8dTiP7SVvn/s425/dragon%20riders%20of%20pern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="280" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFTttnBzbj1dwl179CWDKfq_nT81wcrq5NKPXKOkf4JyxZ7vPJD0tUY6Ur7IvyQQf2tx_tMr5RFYUI2CodM3S4LOgNfpK-_aqFwvcLOsz-fTFzxszw3xIttxgxRFjFCEME3NgHpKUW8OhRHGbxyiIddRxXkct9FvMCZtksKRC_8DKyYWKNR8dTiP7SVvn/w132-h200/dragon%20riders%20of%20pern.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As an avid reader, I scoured the library for sci-fi and fantasy novels by female writers, like Ann McCaffrey (Dragon of Pern series), and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Then, I discovered the Dock 5 series, by Linnea Sinclair, the undisputed queen of Sci-fi with romantic elements. Linnea’s books even had cat-like animals called furzells. Her stories contained plenty of action, strong women characters as ship captains, and they navigated the stars, making no apologies. I had found my niche.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This kind of science fiction written by women does not focus on the engineering of the spaceship, or the weapons, nor does it explain how people traverse intergalactic distances. It is set in a future where space travel technology exists and is commonplace, where man has met alien cultures and spread throughout the universe... like in Star Wars or Star Trek.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, when I decided to write, I wrote what I love, space adventure with strong women as protagonists. Of course, there are brave heroes, and often cats in my stories as well. Write what you know, right?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As for the angels in my books, they are a select group of gifted people with supernatural talents, in charge of keeping the balance of good and evil in the universe. This said, they are still people, with a body and a heart.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquDPq4dSTkSrvtOt8wRfgIKUob2jhCQ481MXL98s980i7mHPtpkGpj54pr4fl4Id5IgGn4YqpgP0DrFrS8UzAxB5J6xcw6rebyh9rwxnSkY62WMVu9H_0D7jcakYm23jlQTu8elk7uLPM3K4RLC_WUE-yjUQLsk4nfV7KgR4fOoUlG9XMy6sRM1FWwJqV/s376/BFseries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="376" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquDPq4dSTkSrvtOt8wRfgIKUob2jhCQ481MXL98s980i7mHPtpkGpj54pr4fl4Id5IgGn4YqpgP0DrFrS8UzAxB5J6xcw6rebyh9rwxnSkY62WMVu9H_0D7jcakYm23jlQTu8elk7uLPM3K4RLC_WUE-yjUQLsk4nfV7KgR4fOoUlG9XMy6sRM1FWwJqV/w400-h319/BFseries.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">amazon </span></a><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">B&N</span></a><span style="line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">Smashwords</span></a><span style="line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">Kobo </span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;">The Blue Phantom glows like a beacon in black space, appears and vanishes, and never registers on scanners. Rumors say it will save the righteous, the oppressed, and the downtrodden… and slay the unworthy without mercy. The space pirates fear it. Their victims pray for it… but its help comes at a price…</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author<br />Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats<br /></span><a href="http://www.vijayaschartz.com/" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">http://www.vijayaschartz.com</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;"><br /></span></span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">amazon </span></a><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">B&N</span></a><span style="line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">Smashwords</span></a><span style="line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" target="_blank"><span style="line-height: 25.68px;">Kobo </span></a></p></div></span>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-41371241239588495482024-01-30T09:29:00.002-07:002024-01-30T09:29:44.755-07:00Building a Galaxy by Daniel Dickinson<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Aggression-Factor-Daniel-Dickinson-ebook/dp/B0CB1PMW46/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="303" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fxU0vAfyulZtF5zSLBTN2yuksOQ_VZJ880pDGqhfxGAHcU6ZuMMH8xoWyvuA7o0URmSA1vkIHKivcoAy_gBhdt5kbaKtCFI7KHhhyM6cuOyZ6K6zKsj_NUJvR6OObR6Zth41t3_GjaTQRWBTM5xYPxHSVdrZn_b-DAtc_ej0T1ztf7eljzzgv-Qu08s/w285-h400/Agression%20Factor.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click on cover to purchase on Amazon</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">PART 1: Tolkien and Middle Earth</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Gas, matter, and energy erupt and expand at an amazing rate of speed, sending seeds of discovery and growth to every
corner of your sci-fi/fantasy galaxy. And all it takes is a spark of imagination to get it started. Maybe it even arises with a
simple question: Where do I even begin? </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Creative minds need a trigger—perhaps a title, an idea of a character, even a simple theme or emotion. Whatever
your stimulus, you will certainly need to create a viable world in some capacity. Whether that world is a subdued, Tolkien like secondary world or a hyper-real world like Neil Gaiman’s, your story and characters will need a cosmos of their own
to explore. The size and scope of that universe is entirely in your hands. My role is to hand you the scales needed to balance
the mind-staggering amount of effort needed to build a galaxy of your own, to provide contrasts between smaller worlds
and bigger ones, and to illustrate how knowing the difference will save you a lot of work. To that end, I offer this 3-Part
examination of different techniques for world-building.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">J.R.R. Tolkien’s original unbridled vision of Middle Earth is the main focus of Part 1. It is also the most copied
example of world-building. People have dived into the technique of Tolkien’s craft so often that it’s used as a ruler when
measuring other worlds. Robert Jordan, Terry Brook, and even R.R. Martin have taken to copying aspects of Tolkien’s
fantasy world-building.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The world of Middle Earth began with a hole in the ground, out of which grew the race of small, fur-footed creatures
that would carry the entire narrative of the story. The Hobbit, the first of four novels in the Lord of the Rings series, was
published by Allen & Unwin in 1937; the remaining titles followed nearly twenty years later. With millions of Tolkien’s
books in circulation for eight decades, it’s rare to come across anyone who doesn’t know the story of the Hobbits and their
quest to end the dark lord Sauron’s reign of terror.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“I now wanted to try my hand at writing a stupendously long narrative,” said Tolkien, “and to see whether I had
sufficient art coming or material to make a really long novel which would hold the average reader right through.” </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">With a plan set up and basic guidelines for his world and how its inhabitants would interact, Tolkien set about
making up the history that would later define and govern the race and the daily lives of those in Middle Earth. However,
there are a few missing pieces to the puzzle in the Lord of the Rings series. Absent are religions, beliefs, and historical
temples that would increase the size of the mythology into other levels of existence. Within the original Tolkien stories,
there are no direct correlations to the greater cosmos outside of Middle Earth. Reading through the series, the reader is led
along the narrative in a closed view of the world and its inhabitants; and, while the world they do interact with is detailed
and complex, the story is limited to small sections of Middle Earth. There is a limited scope to the world around the Hobbits,
Elves, Dwarves, and men as the reader travels along the path of adventure. They are tightly packed within their own borders
with only minor hints of outside lands such as Valinor, the retirement home of the Elves. As readers, we are never really
treated to it and are kept at arm’s length.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The original trilogy also does this with other cultures within Middle Earth. For example, we are never brought to
the lands of the Harad, or told much about them outside Tolkien’s narrative: “Tis said that there were dealings of old between
Gondor and the kingdoms of the Harad in the Far South; though there was never friendship. In those days our bounds were
away south beyond the mouths of Anduin; and Umbar, the nearest of their realms, acknowledged our sway. But that is long
since.” (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Book 4, Ch. 3 – “The Black Gate is Closed”).</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">(Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Book 4, Ch. 3 – “The Black Gate is Closed”)
Historical information is tightly packed into a few lines of dialogue about the Far South and its history. In these
instances, the mythology of the world and the cosmos outside only exist to serve the narrative. The world never seems much
bigger than what Tolkien wants it to be at any given time. The cosmology is boiled down to character focus, and it becomes
an emotional journey. C.S. Lewis, a good friend of Tolkien, once commented on the storytelling aspect of his companion:
“The Hobbit is merely an adaption to children of part of a huge private mythology of a most serious kind: the whole cosmic
struggle as he sees it but mediated through an imaginary world.” (p. 630, The Collected Letters, Volume II, HarperOne).</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This streamlined aspect to Tolkien’s world-building works for his narrative. As a reader, however, I never get the
full breadth of the world. There is history but, despite the colorful descriptions, it never seems to go beyond the current
scene or setting. We’re given information that the world is old, based on those living there now—Elves, Gandolf, Tom
Bombadil are all aged, wise, and completely timeless</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And that’s when things start to become a bit weird. If we stop and study the time frames and history within The
Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series, we find time and the greater cosmos take a back seat to the story and adventure.
When asked about time in a 1964 BBC interview, Tolkien pointed out that he couldn’t associate the time on Middle Earth
with time as we know it “because it had been impossible. Because you would completely interfere with and trammel one in
a free invention of history and an incident of one story.”</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Tolkien went on to explain that he did not want to use Earth time, nor would Earth’s land masses make sense; he
wanted his world to be free of the constraints of pre-conceived history. Time and space are fed to us in small, nutrient-packed bites that fill out the narrative with lively background for the characters to live in and interact with: “The Hunter’s
Moon waxed round in the night sky and put to flight all the lesser stars. But low in the South one star shone red. Every
night, as the Moon waned again, it shone brighter and brighter.” (Fellowship of the Ring)</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This works for Tolkien’s stories and the way they flow. Keep in mind this densely packed world-building is not a
bad thing—there’s a reason Tolkien is so often copied and studied. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The question of where to start when developing a focused world becomes much easier when you’re concerned with
the characters, instead of the greater cosmos around them. By developing the characters and their world as you travel along,
you can explore it with them, learning new things as conflict arise, like orcs from the mist.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTUUASSL2YJcy7tJqkCmIxpgs9kCL-5vjz52ev5K1AUujkWcLzZDVUAA7sAV3qSEHBW6igg1MyeAM1vpxtCDZ_q1Xz2yuL6tfz4kmcLpHTI9anpmg6NNNF7WSrEvyi00dCW2i0lU6MQfTVmxyf_dPy6vd2LKtD4T0PcsBF8NzOETVxso2BczMy01751I/s465/Daniel%20Dickinson.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="347" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTUUASSL2YJcy7tJqkCmIxpgs9kCL-5vjz52ev5K1AUujkWcLzZDVUAA7sAV3qSEHBW6igg1MyeAM1vpxtCDZ_q1Xz2yuL6tfz4kmcLpHTI9anpmg6NNNF7WSrEvyi00dCW2i0lU6MQfTVmxyf_dPy6vd2LKtD4T0PcsBF8NzOETVxso2BczMy01751I/w149-h200/Daniel%20Dickinson.webp" width="149" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Beginning at the age of ten, Arizona native Daniel Dickinson has spent a lifetime
inventing realistic realms for his fictional characters. His fantasy world, Xonthian—
created during his teen years—is an entire domain that allows his characters’ journeys
to unfold in a diverse setting. He enjoys giving educational presentations about world building and fantasy genres, in general. Daniel’s published works include the short
story, Escape from Ogre Island; a two-story horror book, Don’t Close Your Eyes: Two
Thrilling Tales of Terror; Aggression Factor; and Gathering Tide. More about Daniel
at <a href="https://www.tigerforce.net/">https://www.tigerforce.net/</a> and <a href="https://shoutoutarizona.com/meet-daniel-dickinson-author/ " target="_blank">https://shoutoutarizona.com/meet-daniel-dickinson-author/</a> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><p></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-87627385330487090302024-01-08T01:00:00.001-07:002024-01-08T01:00:00.499-07:00Is there an "X" conspiracy? by Vijaya Schartz<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9V0aAXq9cerBea8lF0Ifx5IxkKD9EeWKCCEgYwXI_YlaekAbP4lYYj9MoN_ec8LBz1qVPUY27X7Ym1BMqW5j7OYF2Ag1CCuqnaAz_7TV-pdxVALNXKb7IOKr3csoh9YDhgyGzWZywfxFDAslRFYmVqyHLtcdhZ_TO1maZ5sOn0kZ94LkXjQKpTBZZBX9t/s367/Byzantium3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="367" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9V0aAXq9cerBea8lF0Ifx5IxkKD9EeWKCCEgYwXI_YlaekAbP4lYYj9MoN_ec8LBz1qVPUY27X7Ym1BMqW5j7OYF2Ag1CCuqnaAz_7TV-pdxVALNXKb7IOKr3csoh9YDhgyGzWZywfxFDAslRFYmVqyHLtcdhZ_TO1maZ5sOn0kZ94LkXjQKpTBZZBX9t/w400-h328/Byzantium3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Find these and many other novels of mine on the BWL site <a href="https://bookswelove.net/schartz-vijaya/" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">I’m not a conspiracy theorist, only a curious writer, whose creative mind notices clues and patterns. I’m always looking for fresh angles and new stories everywhere, and lately, I can’t help but notice the proliferation of “X” in everyday American lives. Is the X part of a secret equation? X = ?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKnlAZe0wjvOuf9YW6EKyXIo7lGcFGrzEeemIKWljDMzKrxXQTy0Ab_MdGIUcFqmCYB9eIkOQp42QRyrzGxfnC-o176ln8aEO5Ap33IDIwuyWIXPgLmIGTopcIuF8B9pf0SzXXyd0LuccDhrnjIdHmdDYGXNUefX2vxHze3F-I-w2bAepvAWsx5R6GDEq/s300/x-files.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGKnlAZe0wjvOuf9YW6EKyXIo7lGcFGrzEeemIKWljDMzKrxXQTy0Ab_MdGIUcFqmCYB9eIkOQp42QRyrzGxfnC-o176ln8aEO5Ap33IDIwuyWIXPgLmIGTopcIuF8B9pf0SzXXyd0LuccDhrnjIdHmdDYGXNUefX2vxHze3F-I-w2bAepvAWsx5R6GDEq/s1600/x-files.jpg" width="300" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hCu6H7dyWEcHkYIkP36dBoqhn4l8hFIB9HILirouiCRwy0rKbd0yYgreIvSbIattC6CU-cuYHx26-yq6EKi8x8EADVeCOXmzVxuo1_1rbp2N455RdyWakZPncLLV1ZzQkiAhYFPpfO6llf9w5gC2pFNvkPyqwj5Gtzm35Qqvruhdyk0NM10B6DO0Sh41/s300/x-%20unexplained.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hCu6H7dyWEcHkYIkP36dBoqhn4l8hFIB9HILirouiCRwy0rKbd0yYgreIvSbIattC6CU-cuYHx26-yq6EKi8x8EADVeCOXmzVxuo1_1rbp2N455RdyWakZPncLLV1ZzQkiAhYFPpfO6llf9w5gC2pFNvkPyqwj5Gtzm35Qqvruhdyk0NM10B6DO0Sh41/s1600/x-%20unexplained.jpg" width="300" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">It started years ago with the “X” Files, “The truth is out there.” Ominous, but not so far from reality, since in recent years, many governments around the world have opened up about an alien presence in our skies, and a few even claim to have reverse-engineered some alien technology.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As a result, more and more NASA and other astronauts, as well as Air Force and commercial pilots, are opening up about what they saw in space and in our skies. The US government finally admitted to the existence of Area 51, and briefed Congress about UAPs (Unexplained Aerial Phenomena), in 2023, in a secret session, which somehow leaked to the press, and contained military footage of UFO encounters.</div></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbvn2AbF37hP4Fqrd7VIS5UntWi4XpmCju6VR-248EKPlErYFdJShhQiAn-RD32J0GpMkvFJJfFOP-rRd-MjGcrlyH7EOEmqKpQHolGDxy1-3gWzPeihXbmohvwVsuw2F8_H6E-dATDT5gxQqn7AkAbX00uP5mkB_XUgrEh47dIZpN5zFqnzb6Ph4ks2Vb/s284/s%20spaceX.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbvn2AbF37hP4Fqrd7VIS5UntWi4XpmCju6VR-248EKPlErYFdJShhQiAn-RD32J0GpMkvFJJfFOP-rRd-MjGcrlyH7EOEmqKpQHolGDxy1-3gWzPeihXbmohvwVsuw2F8_H6E-dATDT5gxQqn7AkAbX00uP5mkB_XUgrEh47dIZpN5zFqnzb6Ph4ks2Vb/s1600/s%20spaceX.png" width="284" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Recently, we’ve seen Twitter become “X” under Elon Musk’s new ownership. Why? The symbol is ugly and gives me the shudders. Not a very good marketing move. The man also owns SPACE”X”. Is he signaling that Generation X is taking over the reins of technology? Or is there an X-File alien technology connection? Musk has also been accused of endorsing antisemitic posts on X, causing many advertisers to leave the platform. X was also accused of favoring white supremacist groups. Coincidence?</span></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9HQLJX8VyCFfJ1tshjP6mygpqo7sCcCOAtXbxTOlEFQqC9SpH69mGSqLmfEzHOyCcPPGBDKsxWV8dWZc1wWbT5GL406zROquZo_1H3rCEFRwnXudAoepYTmd5os2aTzwH5Y-fc2i8h8swVf7iIlnUt_dYQ8ff0UFXzRwsmZXTO_lqe8XcuM_TIqN8zmm0/s551/x%20anolonx.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="91" data-original-width="551" height="41" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9HQLJX8VyCFfJ1tshjP6mygpqo7sCcCOAtXbxTOlEFQqC9SpH69mGSqLmfEzHOyCcPPGBDKsxWV8dWZc1wWbT5GL406zROquZo_1H3rCEFRwnXudAoepYTmd5os2aTzwH5Y-fc2i8h8swVf7iIlnUt_dYQ8ff0UFXzRwsmZXTO_lqe8XcuM_TIqN8zmm0/w200-h41/x%20anolonx.png" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-JlBOHF9GaX8JncWrE7fRsrvW-1CfE0ckXCgqw6BGGFyUBsZLd5IqnIIjs7fHPuRr5mTFFFvzWSTxbYkKSCYUMzl-klHjuKXnILU0pHIL9ej0HReQaS6471e6BrGBMASiIvbnAH3fHfP6EC2VZm_8v0Nb5IbWJIL1wl2PGR7mepAWtUcrgQ4dnf-LIpW/s200/x-Arexvy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-JlBOHF9GaX8JncWrE7fRsrvW-1CfE0ckXCgqw6BGGFyUBsZLd5IqnIIjs7fHPuRr5mTFFFvzWSTxbYkKSCYUMzl-klHjuKXnILU0pHIL9ej0HReQaS6471e6BrGBMASiIvbnAH3fHfP6EC2VZm_8v0Nb5IbWJIL1wl2PGR7mepAWtUcrgQ4dnf-LIpW/w200-h200/x-Arexvy.jpg" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcnQNhBsTYTQvZ_XXNbA4PP84Shq4_1mAYBqe8s1Aea46DN9gegnlmpVlxn-zBkL0TcPm8MTnqCt-rfMvOPBUP5Z0F2tas3dgkgdQt8cd8zw1io-9kbKn-crCoJG4aIxm0JXy1CijbHFqnPTXCa2VVuMs1QCNbuX7P8DbL-NGgjfZB_b2zTPWAyIkmXyT/s300/xfinity.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcnQNhBsTYTQvZ_XXNbA4PP84Shq4_1mAYBqe8s1Aea46DN9gegnlmpVlxn-zBkL0TcPm8MTnqCt-rfMvOPBUP5Z0F2tas3dgkgdQt8cd8zw1io-9kbKn-crCoJG4aIxm0JXy1CijbHFqnPTXCa2VVuMs1QCNbuX7P8DbL-NGgjfZB_b2zTPWAyIkmXyT/w200-h112/xfinity.png" width="200" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Many other companies in recent ads are prominently displaying the “X” factor. From pharmaceutical labs, AnolonX, AreXvy, or media companies like “X”finity internet or manufacturers like the X-chair, and TV shows like the X-Files and the UneXplained.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMwdQTxDa0ZSvhOazngGZeJBacceTDwyyc_v48N5Ue3LQ3GSDshOTNudZvJHC5c17BwdqwX8t7LB2tmSfINY_1Saa8D6U6TN_wsG7-rLSM2aPWkgfvkOf4m9MZi7vBtaXEaT17Te13BSmyvn8ymCFFFPXr_UYVmohFrVvtiZcbtRqqEfy_CeYZNSDTRjF/s477/Xchair.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="106" data-original-width="477" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMwdQTxDa0ZSvhOazngGZeJBacceTDwyyc_v48N5Ue3LQ3GSDshOTNudZvJHC5c17BwdqwX8t7LB2tmSfINY_1Saa8D6U6TN_wsG7-rLSM2aPWkgfvkOf4m9MZi7vBtaXEaT17Te13BSmyvn8ymCFFFPXr_UYVmohFrVvtiZcbtRqqEfy_CeYZNSDTRjF/s16000/Xchair.png" /></a></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Celebrity X cruises displays an X that is not part of their name. When the public suggested it meant X-rated cruises for adults, their official rebuttal was: The big “X” on the funnel of the cruise ships represents the Greek letter chi for “Chandris.” Maybe it does… then again… maybe it means something else.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZPE0uMqHYo2qS2TT4dR-8RF_rxqmlL3KWHF9zuaFoNgMSFfc0SBZZIzjl0SXqZFfnMjeRJ6NHRZFaNE3XdnDzIQ33FTc8I-1JqtcJh_ohI8e7_dj8W4K3xoFKo5pPRZpphyIzxK3RCOur3Zmo-7qoDNdzaQKKwrzicjWbaq0WMFLOiDNhccR5qRUXb0z/s375/x%20celebrity%20cruises.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="134" data-original-width="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZPE0uMqHYo2qS2TT4dR-8RF_rxqmlL3KWHF9zuaFoNgMSFfc0SBZZIzjl0SXqZFfnMjeRJ6NHRZFaNE3XdnDzIQ33FTc8I-1JqtcJh_ohI8e7_dj8W4K3xoFKo5pPRZpphyIzxK3RCOur3Zmo-7qoDNdzaQKKwrzicjWbaq0WMFLOiDNhccR5qRUXb0z/s16000/x%20celebrity%20cruises.jpg" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Conspiracy X is an RPG (Role Playing Game) based upon a secret invasion of Earth by aliens insidiously taking over the world. It is set in a world of dark secrets and hidden agendas where nothing is what it seems.</div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_JOJMQSjpMZHKRMIdyucN-kh0LEnATZjq_97YBD2FiqaT0y73VIzsAhQ_cU42JLjOmy-DxTT1SyRrAQfKd6nohrgWYgKqhpibTqafBzUldrJBD72Wh76oHWLKxRZFMQ2VNzGRrC6aCN7Ge7NyEOMMl0PvvVKddo48ahTcT7zRJp-3I6nntJSJilDy6jA/s434/x-%20conspiracy%20X.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_JOJMQSjpMZHKRMIdyucN-kh0LEnATZjq_97YBD2FiqaT0y73VIzsAhQ_cU42JLjOmy-DxTT1SyRrAQfKd6nohrgWYgKqhpibTqafBzUldrJBD72Wh76oHWLKxRZFMQ2VNzGRrC6aCN7Ge7NyEOMMl0PvvVKddo48ahTcT7zRJp-3I6nntJSJilDy6jA/s16000/x-%20conspiracy%20X.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">According to others, Disease X is the next pandemic.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Are we facing a new generation of X-men identifying themselves to each other? Or is there a secret “X” society manipulating governments toward an unknown destiny? It wouldn’t be so farfetched, since secret societies have been running the world from the shadows for millennia.</div><br />I guess we will find out… eventually, if we live long enough. In the meantime, I’ll keep watching for clues. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My novels are full of intergalactic conspiracies, villains, strong heroines, brave heroes, and cats. Find them here:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">amazon </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 25.68px; text-align: start;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">B&N</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 25.68px; text-align: start;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Smashwords</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 25.68px; text-align: start;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Kobo</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZAFzUZLxqoa8JsBL7QFI41uhdZPbyauKlYgLiRTo03JxMYOIErTfQv43nXQ_bJZxSFBflMSYpuHxJlHaC-mL7KT7G29fZa1t8tTayqAUrW0GwIEGx26DpS-N6QnWiiL3aXUoA5rEB-ENK7hXtilN0uF_CxNCTWnmHSrG7ewHJ3jrtgcsNkajqmI4VWgV/s376/BFseries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="376" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZAFzUZLxqoa8JsBL7QFI41uhdZPbyauKlYgLiRTo03JxMYOIErTfQv43nXQ_bJZxSFBflMSYpuHxJlHaC-mL7KT7G29fZa1t8tTayqAUrW0GwIEGx26DpS-N6QnWiiL3aXUoA5rEB-ENK7hXtilN0uF_CxNCTWnmHSrG7ewHJ3jrtgcsNkajqmI4VWgV/w400-h319/BFseries.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4lmO_hU1rNfUKYV0pqTftkbRO8ehYRkaeNQg9YMuLHHHa1hQHVKx6KxaI7xbRhFBPbgt5mup-6fdV3aBdixALhXbQfgXXJSNlHMWOFIvHx8c9vs1FoimF0V7wO7ahU7PQzCdYUcmdXjecSbVyoi7GT7YhMWBt87uhQt9rlJeibVp36RgjfMbItznVQ-y/s2775/Azuratrilogy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1388" data-original-width="2775" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4lmO_hU1rNfUKYV0pqTftkbRO8ehYRkaeNQg9YMuLHHHa1hQHVKx6KxaI7xbRhFBPbgt5mup-6fdV3aBdixALhXbQfgXXJSNlHMWOFIvHx8c9vs1FoimF0V7wO7ahU7PQzCdYUcmdXjecSbVyoi7GT7YhMWBt87uhQt9rlJeibVp36RgjfMbItznVQ-y/w640-h320/Azuratrilogy.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Happy reading!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author<br />Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats<br /></span><a href="http://www.vijayaschartz.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">http://www.vijayaschartz.com</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><br /></span></span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">amazon </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">B&N</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Smashwords</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Kobo</span></a></span></p></div></div></div><div><br /></div>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-10402262269529500102023-12-30T09:52:00.002-07:002023-12-30T09:52:55.948-07:00Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and fruitful year in 2024<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOo1dbvEK6i5nQxhqCf65TgYZIjU5rlqGGe_5kf3aDErkGMhI-0Y85nmJfXpVrI7mmHe7mxTe7O-a23ZqKIml8gRGa_15iVpMrVV0e2iqVTiduJgxK_i5Jm0noS9ezHPakix7Mj2vm8xuPyxKapiqYzp0IzqsEsXbeQE7j8xujsSXHOpqcc_Zz599gCiI/s626/HNY%20banner.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOo1dbvEK6i5nQxhqCf65TgYZIjU5rlqGGe_5kf3aDErkGMhI-0Y85nmJfXpVrI7mmHe7mxTe7O-a23ZqKIml8gRGa_15iVpMrVV0e2iqVTiduJgxK_i5Jm0noS9ezHPakix7Mj2vm8xuPyxKapiqYzp0IzqsEsXbeQE7j8xujsSXHOpqcc_Zz599gCiI/s16000/HNY%20banner.webp" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">May you reach all your writing goals and see all your wishes realized in 2024</span></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-75346199953153975102023-12-18T01:00:00.001-07:002023-12-18T01:00:00.300-07:00From Samurai Bounty Hunter to Egyptian Goddess - creating new stories and characters for the Azura Universe - by Vijaya Schartz<p> </p><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMucDXRa_nTau5c0g4GHBFfcSHPLXS72M9rLwg7Vc5FBlAC6ELOkNYfD-pIZ6vJwupgEHd8PZRHkscWT_xdA-sCQe9laG7TOAKtMFO_Nr1f34lFwT00PRFqKSBrgscKSIr6zwCvE-V4m1P_eL-awwLKA8xEc3r5rZswmbDB8QTzE6wlIXVs7YGz429V64I/s1280/AGmedium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMucDXRa_nTau5c0g4GHBFfcSHPLXS72M9rLwg7Vc5FBlAC6ELOkNYfD-pIZ6vJwupgEHd8PZRHkscWT_xdA-sCQe9laG7TOAKtMFO_Nr1f34lFwT00PRFqKSBrgscKSIr6zwCvE-V4m1P_eL-awwLKA8xEc3r5rZswmbDB8QTzE6wlIXVs7YGz429V64I/w250-h400/AGmedium.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find this book and more<br />on my BWL page <b><a href="https://bookswelove.net/schartz-vijaya/" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Azura Universe is vast and varied. I have been writing stories in it for several years now, over different series. From the Azura Chronicles set on the angel planet, to the Byzantium series set on a space station, and now the Blue Phantom series, featuring the crew of an angel ship. I truly enjoy writing this universe. It’s filled with Humans, alien races, powerful angels, AIs, Cyborg, formidable crime lords, evil sects, power-hungry rulers, bounty hunters, demons, demi-gods, and often big cats with mind-reading abilities.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In all of these novels, you will find strong heroines, brave heroes, and lots of action and adventure, with a little romance for good measure. I write to entertain, and you can trust me to give my stories a happy conclusion no matter what kind of hell my characters have to go through to find their happily ever after.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All my science fiction novels in each series can stand alone, and I like to give each of them a different flair. I sometimes find inspiration in various legends and mythologies of ancient cultures throughout the world, from India to Japan, to the middle east. In Angel Guardian, the latest release, my villainess is Azfet, the Egyptian Goddess of chaos, who has crossed over from another universe.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ry1nAh_d6Ga4c6pohqQhp77mPwhSRiIK5hMrjUwaPfJ0LgxQ1LZMv93wgj_QCnPtpoDa375M-s_5C65XMTwU1pS6EPrPO2esVj5lhNdE0HsbPZky5q6MHbhUd7JPJLQ9uzXyA8-K40FfcNHKdvfce3z0B8ef-HtOYTC1p30n-h5a9mFk49Km51lyyIzk/s1394/Byzantium%20trilogy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1394" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ry1nAh_d6Ga4c6pohqQhp77mPwhSRiIK5hMrjUwaPfJ0LgxQ1LZMv93wgj_QCnPtpoDa375M-s_5C65XMTwU1pS6EPrPO2esVj5lhNdE0HsbPZky5q6MHbhUd7JPJLQ9uzXyA8-K40FfcNHKdvfce3z0B8ef-HtOYTC1p30n-h5a9mFk49Km51lyyIzk/w640-h322/Byzantium%20trilogy.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">amazon </a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">B&N</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Smashwords</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Kobo</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">But now is the time to plot ANGEL REVENGE, Book 3 in the Blue Phantom series. And this time, my heroine is the one coming from a semi-familiar mythology. A strong warrior woman, a green-eyed beauty, flying over the battlefield on the wings of a genetically enhanced tiger. That’s all I will say. You’ll have to wait until next fall to read her story.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMq1N-HTHNqrjZ3WHihC0LCrn14F4Bm7VLndzFPA1iXuQdtd2Ou02tP8DDTFRcENvgY-JKYzqkVZErPldO9xR3mDXLJDRA_VqKBWBzFwMH4BKWH23ADxyLl1SbVbR8nLkzc0Rj5tNTbfN2ThLvCQYTS-Wf410cc15u99uNLBrUaI7TvZo_BJy4zl5G2D8/s2775/Azuratrilogy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1388" data-original-width="2775" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMq1N-HTHNqrjZ3WHihC0LCrn14F4Bm7VLndzFPA1iXuQdtd2Ou02tP8DDTFRcENvgY-JKYzqkVZErPldO9xR3mDXLJDRA_VqKBWBzFwMH4BKWH23ADxyLl1SbVbR8nLkzc0Rj5tNTbfN2ThLvCQYTS-Wf410cc15u99uNLBrUaI7TvZo_BJy4zl5G2D8/w640-h320/Azuratrilogy.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">amazon </a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">B&N</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Smashwords</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Kobo</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">In the meantime, you can read the previous books in this universe, some of which won literary awards, and all of which gathered rave reviews. Happy reading!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijN1xk_3QZSMdrNL1MJYS8UrUVmR1e6l3M0EKFttwZHFJV0rlB_oxJ3RHgL95hOpy9LoJ0sBZhJYfx_34GPEaFs1RsveF8kmSc7FzDLY555TZ5ODN2OwXMYFTQp_objYUzvA7qNy41WTtwspEZ8hd3TU5_rf0hUWS-N9P9ZcPVz_TEVlW0fDzru23xDlju/s376/BFseries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="376" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijN1xk_3QZSMdrNL1MJYS8UrUVmR1e6l3M0EKFttwZHFJV0rlB_oxJ3RHgL95hOpy9LoJ0sBZhJYfx_34GPEaFs1RsveF8kmSc7FzDLY555TZ5ODN2OwXMYFTQp_objYUzvA7qNy41WTtwspEZ8hd3TU5_rf0hUWS-N9P9ZcPVz_TEVlW0fDzru23xDlju/w400-h319/BFseries.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">amazon </a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">B&N</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Smashwords</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Kobo</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.vijayaschartz.com/">http://www.vijayaschartz.com</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader">amazon </a>- <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall">B&N</a> - <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz">Smashwords</a> - <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22">Kobo </a>- <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Vijaya-Schartz-Author-109777709045040/">FB</a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-69627488516002548732023-12-04T01:00:00.001-07:002023-12-04T01:00:00.148-07:00New Release: Blind Journey: A Journalist's Memoirs - by Jack Hawn <p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2a2QKX0c3gWOyef4ES3uaoofdHuAu4dn9xErUErQVZmHovarE8N_8ydnQD0Y2Nn1h2vDeR0CcW6Ggz5Fu2jH4ST6cGkveAm5sBPAUBm4jGMPRr_8DquCJzFLLyrmfFGIvkyoPd0iAbXs_6HWqSb4aBG7X04GLzdDTP9mKe-rxWgiKLMdi3itEJYjKF8/s425/Blind%20Journey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="283" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2a2QKX0c3gWOyef4ES3uaoofdHuAu4dn9xErUErQVZmHovarE8N_8ydnQD0Y2Nn1h2vDeR0CcW6Ggz5Fu2jH4ST6cGkveAm5sBPAUBm4jGMPRr_8DquCJzFLLyrmfFGIvkyoPd0iAbXs_6HWqSb4aBG7X04GLzdDTP9mKe-rxWgiKLMdi3itEJYjKF8/w426-h640/Blind%20Journey.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Journey-Journalists-Jack-Hawn-ebook/dp/B0CCS3R7ST" target="_blank">Find it on Amazon HERE</a></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Uncharted and beyond his control for the most part, Jack Hawn's career simply happened. He never studied journalism and never aspired to be a writer. After almost four years assigned to the army's public information offices, he faced civilian life with a wife, infant daughter, wild ambition, bursting optimism, unshakeable confidence-and no job. Eventually, he found work as a copyboy at a Hollywood newspaper, was paid $5 to review plays and nightclub acts, and a year later filled a sports desk vacancy. As years passed, he earned extra income as a television dramatist and wrote TV and radio scripts for sportscasters. When the paper folded in 1970, he was hired at the Los Angeles Times, where he worked in sports and entertainment. During Jack Hawn's amazing 43-year career, he covered Muhammad Ali title fights, boxing at the 1984 Olympics, and wrote about Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and other celebrities until his retirement in 1991. Whether you're an aspiring or veteran journalist or just want a genuine page turner that details the author's own life and career, it's a work you'll keep pulling from your bookshelf time and again. As one critic summed up his review: "His book is terrific."</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Born January 25, 1930, in Kearney, Nebraska, Jack Hawn grew up in Southern California, graduated from San Fernando High School in 1947, and after one year at the University of California, Santa Barbara, enlisted in the U.S. Army. He and his wife Charlene celebrated their sixty-third anniversary June 2, 2014. They produced four children. The numbers began to change nearly two decades later-14 grandchildren, 23 great-grandkids and (last reported) 3 great-greats. The author and his second wife, Mary Beth Myers-Hawn, reside in Sun City West, Arizona.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsSbxbOjOVPnahHyVfKzJQzeO68vmXS7YZ_nfBQDfhPy_bvwcD42bkS0qRZ0nfY7s1oYqh-zGerBa1McuQJ46k6q-7wUsvsjTJGKUKZRg_T4dlfucsM6CnCsQk_Hzy0IvNH2QFcsS_FyUXWg0QNagm1TZRbbcb__pieNpc2hL4sSTjp23hmdxBctJYVyY/s465/Jack%20Hawn.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsSbxbOjOVPnahHyVfKzJQzeO68vmXS7YZ_nfBQDfhPy_bvwcD42bkS0qRZ0nfY7s1oYqh-zGerBa1McuQJ46k6q-7wUsvsjTJGKUKZRg_T4dlfucsM6CnCsQk_Hzy0IvNH2QFcsS_FyUXWg0QNagm1TZRbbcb__pieNpc2hL4sSTjp23hmdxBctJYVyY/s320/Jack%20Hawn.webp" width="239" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Jack was born in Kearney, Nebraska, January 25, 1930, raised in the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of Los
Angeles. He and his wife of 63 years moved into their Sun City West, Arizona, home on Christmas Eve of
1991. He and his present spouse celebrated their first anniversary July 11, 2021 (lucky seven-eleven).
Jack never studied journalism or aspired to be a journalist. It simply happened thanks to an Army lieutenant
colonel, the Fort Ord public information officer with whom he shared a midnight Greyhound bus ride when
he was an 18-year-old recruit fresh out of basic training. Jack is an active opportunistic optimist with a
strong sense of humor, having a "target date" of at least 104 years. That's when his identical 18-year-old
triplet great-grandsons will open a time capsule that contains his book among other treasures. Their brother
also should be present. He's two years older.</span><span style="font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Author's Website:</span></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px;"><span class="a-text-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic !important;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://authorjackhawn.com/author/" target="_blank">https://authorjackhawn.com/author/</a></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-90939807550055716632023-11-27T01:00:00.001-07:002023-11-27T01:00:00.140-07:00New Release: Team Joshua: The war on crime continues - by Frank Davis<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGIJ1f4xreIcwxhohXb321Yz9UDY3XpBaZLej_NueA0GKOcPf_cDTjTs2dwXVskB69pnlR_U1w0b3ubJp9ulAT0Jf3Fszg0Xu9OYU36HfSauxyJhfLdDL34lwre-rG9ccNM3pw11nIFmMp2s8Yyy86lKSznv-zwQAVG1uvbIPE_hhlV4Yj4bRuC9coh8/s445/Team%20Joshua.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="296" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGIJ1f4xreIcwxhohXb321Yz9UDY3XpBaZLej_NueA0GKOcPf_cDTjTs2dwXVskB69pnlR_U1w0b3ubJp9ulAT0Jf3Fszg0Xu9OYU36HfSauxyJhfLdDL34lwre-rG9ccNM3pw11nIFmMp2s8Yyy86lKSznv-zwQAVG1uvbIPE_hhlV4Yj4bRuC9coh8/w426-h640/Team%20Joshua.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BVWMMVR8" target="_blank">Find it on Amazon HERE</a></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">"Team Joshua" is a story about a select group of individuals who became special government agents assigned to take down criminals who think of themselves as untouchables. The group is lead by Joshua Brown, a 6'-7" former active duty Recon Marine. With him are three other former Marines, Pham Bin Minh, sniper, Mark Riley, demolition expert and Sarge, a large German Shepherd trained to identify explosives and to attack the enemy. A fourth member of the team is Simone Cantrell, a DEA special agent until she hooked up with the team.</span></span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">The last member of the team is Caleb Brown, Joshua's twin brother, also a former Recon Marine. Both Joshua and Caleb served in Afghanistan for two tours. A week before their last tour ended Caleb was killed by an IED. But his spirit survived, bonded to his brother and became a super sleuth, providing intel no human could gather.</span></div></span><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">They have successfully completed all four missions over two and a half years. Each one more complex than the last. It was time to stand down and enjoy some well earned R&R. However, that was not to be. This mission was by far the most complex they had ever been assigned to. It was like going back to combat again, but this time in Oregon. Before it was over many people would die.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsvmtsXg4hc07_18W9zCTv41SH0-WevMxIPYaYLKEVD3XH631khcZBt1N3vghZZrp7UbP3U7q1WEbtr1IDaYJB_9wohcE36utEJ9gHiioPxmXG8jENn8aV2aMRR_R8xfNKPyu4dxfRH0dIFLDTYciu-iDDWA7YOCSREa-KqNi7QVnevp6leqZlMmhF4M/s465/Frank%20G.%20Davis.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsvmtsXg4hc07_18W9zCTv41SH0-WevMxIPYaYLKEVD3XH631khcZBt1N3vghZZrp7UbP3U7q1WEbtr1IDaYJB_9wohcE36utEJ9gHiioPxmXG8jENn8aV2aMRR_R8xfNKPyu4dxfRH0dIFLDTYciu-iDDWA7YOCSREa-KqNi7QVnevp6leqZlMmhF4M/s320/Frank%20G.%20Davis.webp" width="239" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Frank G. Davis is an award-winning author from Chandler. During the last three years he has self-published ten science fiction novels. An eleventh novel is currently being edited. He is also involved in
generating an audio book of one of his novels, The Book of Caleb. It's a prequel to the Joshua series. He
has written two four-book series; the first is the Generation series, a space opera that covers 200 years
and multiple generations. </span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The second is titled, Joshua. It is an action/adventure series set in the near
future.
Frank has been focusing on marketing and has made arrangements with several Barnes and Noble
stores in the Phoenix area to add some of his books to their Local Authors displays. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In March, he held
his first book signing event at the Barnes and Noble store at Tempe Market Place. There are eleven
Barnes and Noble stores in the greater Phoenix area. His goal is to hold book signings monthly at their
various stores. To find out more about Frank, visit his website <a href="https://www.scififrank.com/" target="_blank">Home | Sci Fi Frank</a></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-28288724051052177652023-11-22T01:00:00.001-07:002023-11-22T01:00:00.146-07:00Would you know it if you were the victim of Identity Theft? - by Vijaya Schartz<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxef1X5D5BB6BmadhkVhTFwH8ojC43BaGgVONQn1oIFzjLs6D9_2yKNuKtURB39WUqhyphenhyphenZ2zwMZ7OSw2gFNq7QAp1tLCoX-cyUBCvxcIELrtUyUhrvszVgmeZjNAPUX-CWDBSnAP9KbrI1G0wYldnz4o65w8DUsBgmLNCqc61lAy8w0hWmR7-m6wVm1GVs/s450/vijaya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxef1X5D5BB6BmadhkVhTFwH8ojC43BaGgVONQn1oIFzjLs6D9_2yKNuKtURB39WUqhyphenhyphenZ2zwMZ7OSw2gFNq7QAp1tLCoX-cyUBCvxcIELrtUyUhrvszVgmeZjNAPUX-CWDBSnAP9KbrI1G0wYldnz4o65w8DUsBgmLNCqc61lAy8w0hWmR7-m6wVm1GVs/s320/vijaya.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Although I write fiction, I have to say reality can sometimes be more incredible than angels and demons and other supernatural creatures found in my books.</span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It all started with a strange transaction on my Paypal account. $34.00 were taken out to an unfamiliar bank, then placed back into my account. Weird, but no harm done. Probably a mistake from Paypal. Still, I messaged Paypal on the site to contest the transaction.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Two days later, I jumped as I noticed a large balance in my checking account. Someone was moving money around, transferring all my savings into my checking, including a very large cash advance from my credit card.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I took out my phone to call the bank, only to discover that my phone refused to let me dial out. PANIC!</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Then, large cash withdrawals were happening on my retirement account. WHAT? Unable to call, I sent an online message to contest the transactions, but got a message back that they were busy and to expect delays.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The next day, all my IRA rollover shares had been sold and the entire balance in my account was on its way out to an unknown bank account, being processed. Still no phone, and no one to talk to, except sending a message on the site.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Of course, it was the weekend. On Monday, I went to my bank and spoke to a fraud agent. Someone had also requested a personal loan in my name. My bank filed a claim and froze all my accounts and opened new ones. Told me to file a police report and change all my passwords.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I had my phone checked. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, but it wouldn't dial out. Stranger and stranger. They replaced the Sim card. Now it works fine.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I called my retirement account firm, and they stopped the cash transfer and locked my account... just in the nick of time. They gave me a list of places to go and people to call, including IDtheft.gov, and the credit bureaus, etc. They also asked me to have my laptop and my phone cleaned, which I did. I learned that my phone was probably hacked first, to prevent me from reporting the fraud in time.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The worse was averted. I could sleep again. But now wherever I go online, I have to deal with proving my identity as without all the cookies my familiar sites do not recognize me. I have to reset all my bill payments, all my automatic deposits and more...</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It has been a maddening two weeks, and I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was fortunate. My bank was curious on how I spotted the fraud so quickly. I check the balance on all my bank accounts online every morning, as part of my daily routine. Had I not done that, I would be on the street today. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Now I can start writing again, with a clean computer and a clear mind. I'm working on the next book in the BLUE PHANTOM series, to be released next year. In the meantime, you can read the two first books: </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://books2read.com/Angel-Ship" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="496" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjViHjtWvn4XJEywCBLls8agDxCUvanIFTl9eyN1S0bX2sKLpRe7lmBy6_BLVEKw94AP-80YJYDoA1Ntw3jI2NaXButbgcw-4kfwzVneJ1vZpMceHbjFfB-8HBTS-LfJspHmRlTRYMEXwt5uvMGiOYPexMKkxGIehk9_SBZ1praM_81J3bw3gZ2odIwwX8B/w268-h400/Angel%20Ship%20paperback.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://books2read.com/Angel-Ship" target="_blank"><b>ANGEL SHIP - Book One</b></a> - <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">amazon </span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">- </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">B&N</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Smashwords</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Kobo</span></a></span></div></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Desperate to save her people from the Marauders swarming her space freighter, Kefira prays for a miracle. Blake Volkov, legendary captain of the </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic !important;">Blue Phantom</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> hears her plea and deems her and her refugees worthy of his help. Grateful for the rescue, Kefira finds his price shocking. But despite his glowing wings, handsome looks and impressive abilities, Blake admits he is no angel… although Kefira’s feline bodyguard strongly disagrees.</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #0f1111;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, an old enemy bent on revenge unleashed an unspeakable evil on the galaxy. Time to face past mistakes… time for innocent blood to flow. Nothing prepared Kefira for the upheaval ahead.</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="color: #0f1111;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Can Blake find redemption? Can Kefira save her people? Can she ever trust and love again?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://books2read.com/Angel-Guardian" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2505RfbLIuHuX_pJWgk-eBUonviOaDEf4nhzttTUpwVPlyA4MqqfRLrOoLBz93I5vrcLx6KEz6MRg2a2r7kC0k_1RubDJWvFfKU2H20JpFeVf5ygk-8HhmIPlSqzUagc7kU8bWSV9dKlesAv4qpFkWjlrZYj21LliWM5jUz-sCLFBRD0v-Bu6g4CS4_n/w250-h400/AGmedium.jpg" width="250" /></a></div></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="color: #0f1111; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://books2read.com/Angel-Guardian" target="_blank"><b>ANGEL GUARDIAN - Book 2</b></a> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">amazon </span></a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">- </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">B&N</span></a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Smashwords</span></a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Kobo</span></a></span></p></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="color: #0f1111; text-align: justify;">Desperate to escape the frozen labor planet to complete his crucial mission, Kal wishes he could remember his orders, who he worked for, or who he was before his memory wipe.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #0f1111;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">On her first solo assignment to rescue a foreign angel, Indra discovers that, despite her impeccable training, she is not warrior material. She cares too much to follow orders. Her life turns upside down when the captain of the </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic !important;">Blue Phantom</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> assigns her a spirited, telepathic feline named Panthera.</span></div></span></span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #0f1111;"><div style="text-align: justify;">But a new kind of evil threatens to subjugate the galaxy, and it came on the wings of the rescued angel. Torn between duty, and what she thinks is right, will Indra dare to violate angel rule? If she’s wrong, and Kal is an agent of evil, it could plunge the entire galaxy into eternal torment.</div></span></span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: #0f1111;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author<br />Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats<br /></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="http://www.vijayaschartz.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">http://www.vijayaschartz.com</span></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">amazon </span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">- </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">B&N</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Smashwords</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> - </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Kobo </span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">- </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Vijaya-Schartz-Author-109777709045040/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;">FB</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> </span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-38450218673633798072023-11-20T01:00:00.001-07:002023-11-20T01:00:00.359-07:00New Release: Winnie's Christmas Treasure Hunt (Winnie's Adventures) - by Joy K. Ball (Author), Manuela Pentangelo (Illustrator)<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_HPvUmTStP6L7VW3zpycrXS-7arYddAfljRF6e7K71JlyUVi7fCfwYX2H0gmw4InGFbct-_KwpezuvYOBS8Z8Q5Tzx-MQ2BfW_5KVvQeEMSzvygV4g248KOTklgVpzS9391KXNU8Vkse8dDl5Zn67PywXyFzgPsbG867xI3s0VOeF_ZCE7QOdMMMK-o/s425/Winnie's%20Christmas%20Treasure%20Hunt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="425" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh_HPvUmTStP6L7VW3zpycrXS-7arYddAfljRF6e7K71JlyUVi7fCfwYX2H0gmw4InGFbct-_KwpezuvYOBS8Z8Q5Tzx-MQ2BfW_5KVvQeEMSzvygV4g248KOTklgVpzS9391KXNU8Vkse8dDl5Zn67PywXyFzgPsbG867xI3s0VOeF_ZCE7QOdMMMK-o/w640-h640/Winnie's%20Christmas%20Treasure%20Hunt.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Winnies-Christmas-Treasure-Hunt-Adventures/dp/B0CJBVFCLK" target="_blank">Find it on Amazon HERE</a></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;">The hunt is on! Will Winnie find the treasure she’s searching for?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;">Winnie has a question! Where do all the schoolchildren go at night? With the help of her friend, Dusty the Desert Packrat, Winnie is determined to find out what special treasures can be found if only she can get inside a person’s home.</span></div><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">This heartwarming Christmas adventure is filled with exciting things kids love about the holiday season—including treasures!.</div></span></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0OqKxXPPmPr46_CUhGipslHEJpGAtKP4BWaJ1LRFyKuZWsr0NSL6SJE-uDSl7iIyopE7T6MaWJos8_rEJXFMtsDlLMla64qodzMSaQa7bcWrUdjymtvK5UTSoFAboTHXyjNUJiKhbV3xQs01UJ_1aH49eD5VClf9oZRIuCMpznj4pnvjv0aq7zkZK1nM/s1024/JoyKBall.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0OqKxXPPmPr46_CUhGipslHEJpGAtKP4BWaJ1LRFyKuZWsr0NSL6SJE-uDSl7iIyopE7T6MaWJos8_rEJXFMtsDlLMla64qodzMSaQa7bcWrUdjymtvK5UTSoFAboTHXyjNUJiKhbV3xQs01UJ_1aH49eD5VClf9oZRIuCMpznj4pnvjv0aq7zkZK1nM/s320/JoyKBall.webp" width="320" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;">Joy K. Ball is a busy pediatrician, wife, and mother.
She feels fortunate to have spent several years living in Arizona, in the beautiful Sonoran Desert, where
she and her family loved exploring the vast variety of plants and animals. Having lived most of her
earlier life in the Southeast, Joy was amazed to see the desert actually bloom in spring! Her debut
children's book, Winnie Goes to School, was inspired by an event that occurred one dazzling spring
day when a feathered friend attempted to join her daughter’s first-grade class.
Joy currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and 2 teenage daughters, where
life is busy and always an adventure. Find out more about Dr. Joy on her website </span><a href="https://www.joykball.com/" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Home - Joy Ball - Author (joykball.com)</a></span></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-68053894494352773962023-11-12T16:37:00.001-07:002023-11-12T16:37:37.892-07:00Meet the big winners of the 2023 Arizona Literary Awards <p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>GRAND PRIZE - Picture Book</b><br />Winnie Goes to School
by Joy Ball</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqU4WPZ4UUdWqVGxbz12d0EFrmVjsKIQCWhQvebUUvUxQacsf4ElRZBFGu_fRoOavPJFczPPgHnPehdaZQXMER9QYLFimC3rN3Y6fgaOmZjrhQbwJWJW6JBnbHAgF-Z0bngLFL8Gec75PXY-J9bPYMajYHWaCBN4x5GCbx4Vo_LBLtWEHtoayNGQ9n4eA/s425/Winnie%20goes%20to%20school.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqU4WPZ4UUdWqVGxbz12d0EFrmVjsKIQCWhQvebUUvUxQacsf4ElRZBFGu_fRoOavPJFczPPgHnPehdaZQXMER9QYLFimC3rN3Y6fgaOmZjrhQbwJWJW6JBnbHAgF-Z0bngLFL8Gec75PXY-J9bPYMajYHWaCBN4x5GCbx4Vo_LBLtWEHtoayNGQ9n4eA/s16000/Winnie%20goes%20to%20school.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: left;">Find it on Amazon </span><b style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Winnie-Goes-School-Joy-Ball-ebook/dp/B0BNM9YGZ6" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: large; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Winnie longs to discover the magic of books, but to become part of the story she will need to sneak into the school. What could possibly go wrong?</span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="color: #0f1111; text-align: justify;">Follow Winnie the curious Cactus Wren on this whimsical story filled with adventure and fun. Will Winnie become a part of the story and learn how to behave in school? Grab your copy to find out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></div></span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="a-text-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Winnie Goes to School</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> is a fun and educational story that is perfect for every home and school library. Along the way, look for other interesting plants and animals you will see inhabiting the Sonoran Desert.</span></div></span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #0f1111;"><div style="text-align: justify;">What a thoughtful gift for your child's classroom!</div></span></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMeeBuaY-byYdE1mc7ST2cIY6eG4SRzAS49NqBqxFbRr9-Mn-Kuj9NxD02PfQPyrSUCEXWNScuytWueTwaI6uYOwm-nK5LKDiv2g4N9TbBwq7NEWuzkAzl76qYx6MsVBHYIORPilX8Xj2wIm_5eTHU3XiSADxjYr_8jlqOkvfJ4JhHI98BhVmBkQ__Y0/s1024/JoyKBall.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMeeBuaY-byYdE1mc7ST2cIY6eG4SRzAS49NqBqxFbRr9-Mn-Kuj9NxD02PfQPyrSUCEXWNScuytWueTwaI6uYOwm-nK5LKDiv2g4N9TbBwq7NEWuzkAzl76qYx6MsVBHYIORPilX8Xj2wIm_5eTHU3XiSADxjYr_8jlqOkvfJ4JhHI98BhVmBkQ__Y0/s320/JoyKBall.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br />Joy K. Ball is a pediatrician, wife, and mother. Her favorite hobby is traveling and spending time going on adventures with her family. She spent several years living in the beautiful Sonoran Desert and loved exploring the variety of plants and animals found there. Having spent most of her life in the Southeast, she was amazed to see the desert bloom in spring! Her first children's book, Winnie Goes to School, was inspired by an event that occurred one dazzling spring day when a feathered friend attempted to join her daughter's first grade class.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Amazon Ember, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span face="Amazon Ember, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><b>FIRST PRIZE Oldie But Goldie category</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Red Romeo</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Stasi Gigolos and the Spy Hunter of Germany</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">by Peter Bernhardt</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdocrh5qGon9w_VHe-KepDatla3IShtXMkQhGwregjn81CPQLoWWXlTURB9FPiX-HgKLUrf3DbswyTuSYHi6mC2z7Rmkk7Xm_kIGVg2P1-UT3mgjMGXCkfNTbI3_bI-nDjmD28gopi40UxYnSyWYcdDqOngTqnR2_C64YX-X30ca_qsevJO3XD4B7sss/s425/Red%20Romeo%20winner.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBdocrh5qGon9w_VHe-KepDatla3IShtXMkQhGwregjn81CPQLoWWXlTURB9FPiX-HgKLUrf3DbswyTuSYHi6mC2z7Rmkk7Xm_kIGVg2P1-UT3mgjMGXCkfNTbI3_bI-nDjmD28gopi40UxYnSyWYcdDqOngTqnR2_C64YX-X30ca_qsevJO3XD4B7sss/s16000/Red%20Romeo%20winner.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Red-Romeo-Peter-Bernhardt-ebook/dp/B015EV706Q/" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><h4 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The summer of 1977 finds divided Germany locked in a fierce espionage battle. West Germany’s premier spy hunter, ambitious SABINE MAIER, faces off against ruthless Stasi General WERNER HEINRICH. Sabine has filled half a prison with her prodigious arrests of communist spies. Heinrich is the mastermind behind a small army of spy gigolos who prey on lonely women working in the West German government’s most secret divisions. Caught in the middle is ladies’ man STEFAN MALIK, a reluctant Romeo, forced to do the general’s bidding or rot in a Stasi prison.</span></span></h4></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20bbHE0KqiVwMimJ8_PYSr3DQJ0T75CRUWrPszgfVjiskdoaHaOELxVtP9ComkCucpFeP25yLlml69LQbDtB6dcawPuERwOFS0q0TOGfwuiieBtbmexVfnUhdUfKHl7ebxfG1lw2umaiA-ok7x_XrRVCIIBOT4TpKtN2o2tPAG_MknwTWrpQi7XH3Irg/s465/Peter%20Bernhardt.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20bbHE0KqiVwMimJ8_PYSr3DQJ0T75CRUWrPszgfVjiskdoaHaOELxVtP9ComkCucpFeP25yLlml69LQbDtB6dcawPuERwOFS0q0TOGfwuiieBtbmexVfnUhdUfKHl7ebxfG1lw2umaiA-ok7x_XrRVCIIBOT4TpKtN2o2tPAG_MknwTWrpQi7XH3Irg/s320/Peter%20Bernhardt.webp" width="239" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For Peter Bernhardt, writing has been
a life-long pursuit. At age 23, he
emigrated from Germany to the United
States, attended law school, graduated
at the top of his class and was law
journal editor-in-chief. After a
litigation career with the U.S.
Department of Justice, he retired and
published his first novel. His novels,
The Stasi File and Kiss of the Shaman’s
Daughter were first and second place
prizewinners in the 2022 Arizona
Authors Association Literary Contest.
His novel, Red Romeo, features spy
gigolos seducing West German women
to spy for communist East Germany, a
story inspired by actual events. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>FIRST PRIZE Picture Book category</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Elephants Are Not Artists </div><div style="text-align: center;">by William Hart</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhABHefoe9kGvmq4j9p2XD4lTNMJWW1iSGT01gcS3qqWA3vNJvy6pu45joZVX1SRkk4CJ-R-VW1u0G7gy0l56rmpWD4NJWis23B5VKCXFDZDin7kXjBP1swTSUYoIB1LTkLKYqt9Vj4jH6n2n-kJC6HDtH-L-zkZiYPtnq1I9uJm2oqbNR6QiauOT9YBfg/s425/Elephants%20are%20not%20artists.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhABHefoe9kGvmq4j9p2XD4lTNMJWW1iSGT01gcS3qqWA3vNJvy6pu45joZVX1SRkk4CJ-R-VW1u0G7gy0l56rmpWD4NJWis23B5VKCXFDZDin7kXjBP1swTSUYoIB1LTkLKYqt9Vj4jH6n2n-kJC6HDtH-L-zkZiYPtnq1I9uJm2oqbNR6QiauOT9YBfg/s16000/Elephants%20are%20not%20artists.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Elephants-Are-Artists-William-Hart/dp/1958302082" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">What does it mean to be an artist? Ruby is an elephant who loves to draw on the ground with her favorite stick. She dreams of getting to use colors one day. When others tell her that she will never be an artist, she must choose between believing them or believing in herself. Discover how determination, practice, and forgiveness help Ruby along her journey.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwj033s5wUYUVeoSCmPLxrHVn3BXB7q7sxeYhpC0HpUDkXfXD5xxtYKynMcxDF2Ev6LQtH3B0JRSg9MeHvODD8i8AGwQmU27yqBlqr63MjYUsagEklQN95U0lKymvNbkxhyFipmnIZl3B5wPI7oAe19Wu47yXThlZsl_8CCtzfgevviaBrknUto8egv2Q/s333/William%20Hart.webp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="249" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwj033s5wUYUVeoSCmPLxrHVn3BXB7q7sxeYhpC0HpUDkXfXD5xxtYKynMcxDF2Ev6LQtH3B0JRSg9MeHvODD8i8AGwQmU27yqBlqr63MjYUsagEklQN95U0lKymvNbkxhyFipmnIZl3B5wPI7oAe19Wu47yXThlZsl_8CCtzfgevviaBrknUto8egv2Q/w149-h200/William%20Hart.webp" width="149" /></a></div><br />Born and raised in the state of
Georgia, William Hart currently
lives in the Phoenix area with his
family. He proudly has kept a bit of
a Southern drawl that comes out
regularly. He has received master’s
degrees in human development and
technical writing. His family,
including two dogs, enjoy
traveling, swimming, spending
time in the Pinetop/Lakeside area of
Arizona, and exploring kid-friendly
hiking trails across the state.
William writes children’s picture
books including Elephants Are Not
Artists.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>FIRST PRIZE Oldie But Goldie category</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops</div><div style="text-align: center;">by Allison Hong Merrill</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9RiU1r5yg_UahbTaVFOgX9FKEoIhwc6v0hUB9cioeVFse58_COV0HqMJUcHOv7CnC5YtJvrzMJ1jnLE0LnVCo9XOo4J6Zay-uZT3OEyI0vVYISz9jnV6sDGruZyAi5efTCTJyY3bBLhUxHxBJHXYFLLSMpda05nkdtgzNEszdp9VMOjO6HPI7Gtwf28k/s445/Ninety-nine%20fire%20hoops.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9RiU1r5yg_UahbTaVFOgX9FKEoIhwc6v0hUB9cioeVFse58_COV0HqMJUcHOv7CnC5YtJvrzMJ1jnLE0LnVCo9XOo4J6Zay-uZT3OEyI0vVYISz9jnV6sDGruZyAi5efTCTJyY3bBLhUxHxBJHXYFLLSMpda05nkdtgzNEszdp9VMOjO6HPI7Gtwf28k/s16000/Ninety-nine%20fire%20hoops.jpg" /></a></div><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">Allison Hong is not your typical fifteen-year-old Taiwanese girl. Unwilling to bend to the conditioning of her Chinese culture, which demands that women submit to men’s will, she disobeys her father’s demand to stay in their faith tradition, Buddhism, and instead joins the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then, six years later, she drops out of college to serve a mission—a decision for which her father disowns her.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">After serving her mission in Taiwan, twenty-two-year-old Allison marries her Chinese-speaking American boyfriend, Cameron Chastain. But sixteen months later, Allison returns home to their Texas apartment and is shocked to discover that, in her two-hour absence, Cameron has taken all the money, moved out, and filed for divorce. Desperate for love and acceptance, Allison moves to Utah and enlists in an imaginary, unforgiving dating war against the bachelorettes at Brigham Young University, where the rules don’t make sense—and winning isn’t what she thought it would be.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taiwanese immigrant Allison Hong
Merrill is a loveaholic and a Wall
Street Journal best-selling author. She
earned an MFA from Vermont College
of Fine Arts. Her work appears
in The New York Times and has won
national and international literary
prizes. Her debut memoir, Ninety-Nine
Fire Hoops, has won over 40
independent book awards. She is a
keynote speaker, instructor, and
panelist at various writer’s conferences
nationwide and in Asia. She also
appears on TV, radio, and podcasts; in
magazines, newspapers, and journals.
More at allisonhongmerrill.com.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>SECOND PRIZE Fiction category</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sisters of Castle Leod</div><div style="text-align: center;">by Elizabeth Bernard</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSr81OfNDmsO-JYqiQgrBnwvBz4qrl5K5Fjizk7YNGpMmfUwM3Sb3bVZS-H_QU2C2F0Ob7WvLVtT4OFrNjCqYnwGwX9pMtxoHUuQDETz62o3au5w27EwT_1a7uJzAFaM6-7DF7SxtZuJJJje4MCRMkpQ9wDGGNowRv9U7U5yx2Sxx-3sCnPoFqoWfEjE/s445/Sisters%20of%20Castle%20Leod.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSr81OfNDmsO-JYqiQgrBnwvBz4qrl5K5Fjizk7YNGpMmfUwM3Sb3bVZS-H_QU2C2F0Ob7WvLVtT4OFrNjCqYnwGwX9pMtxoHUuQDETz62o3au5w27EwT_1a7uJzAFaM6-7DF7SxtZuJJJje4MCRMkpQ9wDGGNowRv9U7U5yx2Sxx-3sCnPoFqoWfEjE/s16000/Sisters%20of%20Castle%20Leod.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Castle-Elizabeth-Hutchison-Bernard/dp/1685130623" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">inspired by a real Scottish castle, Castle Leod. The two sisters who lived there at the turn of the twentieth century were among the most fascinating and talked-about women of their era.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Lady Sibell Mackenzie is a spiritualist, a believer in reincarnation, and a popular author of mystical romances. Petite and proper, she values tradition and duty. Her younger sister Lady Constance, swimming champion and big game hunter, is a statuesque beauty who scandalizes British society with her public displays of Greek-style barefoot dancing. The differences between the sisters escalate into conflict after Sibell inherits their late father's vast estates and the title 3rd Countess of Cromartie. But it is the birth of Sibell's daughter that sets in motion a series of bizarre and tragic events, pitting sister against sister and propelling Sibell on a desperate mission to challenge the power of fate.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="a-text-italic" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic;">Sisters of Castle Leod</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, by award-winning author Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard, is the emotionally charged story of two sisters torn apart by jealousy and superstition, and the impossible leap of faith that could finally bring them together.</span></p></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard’s
latest novel, Sisters of Castle Leod
(2023), was selected as the Historical
Novel Society Editors' Choice (Feb.
2023). The novel is a #1 bestseller in
Amazon’s Historical Biographical
Fiction and Biographical Literary
Fiction categories. Ms. Bernard is
the winner of the 2023 Maxy Award
for Historical Fiction and Adventure,
and a 2022 American Writing Awards
Finalist in Historical Fiction. Her
2017 The Beauty Doctor was an Eric
Hoffer Book Award, National Indie
Excellence Award, and AZ Literary
Award finalist, and is a Book Readers
Appreciation Group Medallion
Honoree.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><b>SECOND PRIZE Non-Fiction category</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">To Travel Well, Travel Light</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">by Mary Coday Edwards</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfxIfmBR695O5rynBbuoUH6NYkViOF3AYT1nyve9ejinHOo8F7hFRB3kh02eA_YQCm-IdKloFmWi-eGJu6zKAVT-4PHPua0uBJuyjXurem_CGmycGyYLBjkne19XCzweA69-C0DfgfcOo7fD13wrgz8I9-8WghBqgN-c4JskE75_EzWUiJze5LgqnOnw/s1500/Travel%20Well.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfxIfmBR695O5rynBbuoUH6NYkViOF3AYT1nyve9ejinHOo8F7hFRB3kh02eA_YQCm-IdKloFmWi-eGJu6zKAVT-4PHPua0uBJuyjXurem_CGmycGyYLBjkne19XCzweA69-C0DfgfcOo7fD13wrgz8I9-8WghBqgN-c4JskE75_EzWUiJze5LgqnOnw/w266-h400/Travel%20Well.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Well-Light-Possessions-Patriarchal-ebook/dp/B0BD5W9C5D" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic; text-align: start;">To Travel Well, Travel Light</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"> is a two-part memoir of an outward journey and an inward journey. Part 1 tells the story of the joys and pitfalls of living and working abroad with children in tow. A USAID program brought educated young Afghan men to the Midwest to instruct them in public administration. Mary and Mike befriended them through a community friendship program, and these </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic; text-align: start;">mujahideen</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"> persuaded this adventurous family to move to Peshawar.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33bbqdVh75jEWTZ2PKG20sQi3lvTfzBqCH782Yd-5G4lx9W9wzQMUrH14sF8F9obBxfiUVcQYbDk7pF22Y5qmO6qsGdI91kryIjnoA8qSuv6NyH4dzv0Sp4nL67SKlXSysAbzI0LkJGzmg6-2ya31TGC63T-JvCfqDDPlZZoI1aSNRbpd1WJl4UpAC_A/s465/Mary%20Coday%20Edwards.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33bbqdVh75jEWTZ2PKG20sQi3lvTfzBqCH782Yd-5G4lx9W9wzQMUrH14sF8F9obBxfiUVcQYbDk7pF22Y5qmO6qsGdI91kryIjnoA8qSuv6NyH4dzv0Sp4nL67SKlXSysAbzI0LkJGzmg6-2ya31TGC63T-JvCfqDDPlZZoI1aSNRbpd1WJl4UpAC_A/s320/Mary%20Coday%20Edwards.webp" width="239" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><br />Flagstaff, Arizona, resident Mary
Coday Edwards is a 2023 Nautilus
Book Awards Silver medalist for her
book “To Travel Well, Travel Light.”
Of the twenty years she lived abroad
with her family, eight were in Pakistan,
where she worked in Afghan refugee
post-conflict repatriation and
reconstruction projects. She is an
internationally published writer and
edited and wrote for English daily
newspapers in Jakarta and Mexico. She
has a BS in engineering technology, an
MA in energy and environmental
studies, and post-graduate studies in
ecological justice. She is a trained
spiritual facilitator and a nonsectarian
ordained minister through Denver's
People House.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><b>SECOND PRIZE Picture Book category</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">Freester’s First Easter</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">by Kris Benny</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszBT8hmS4sLWhK4TZyBX7KFijT9hs7-UZyNuGiYOVyYToARtgQfMaRAq4VUVRQvROh9nM-r8t1aVqZpoKXCCAtOPiyI6E4UsABH4eMrj_rdyOBcnOWCUV6VdCPyvofrzdgAGdSf3hkqUNkbz-PlAW1NyP4qqEmBvm1YSmXMR5Yk8MonWtsk7oyABDxRM/s425/Freester's%20First%20Easter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiszBT8hmS4sLWhK4TZyBX7KFijT9hs7-UZyNuGiYOVyYToARtgQfMaRAq4VUVRQvROh9nM-r8t1aVqZpoKXCCAtOPiyI6E4UsABH4eMrj_rdyOBcnOWCUV6VdCPyvofrzdgAGdSf3hkqUNkbz-PlAW1NyP4qqEmBvm1YSmXMR5Yk8MonWtsk7oyABDxRM/s16000/Freester's%20First%20Easter.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Freesters-First-Easter-friendship-kindness/dp/B0BZFPJTRN" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">"Freester's First Easter" is an adorable picture book that captures the magic and excitement of Easter through the eyes of a little rabbit named Freester. Aimed at children aged 3-8, this book is filled with colorful illustrations and enticing rhymes that will capture their imaginations and keep them engaged from start to finish.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kris Benny is the author of
Freester's First Easter. As a
mother, she understands that the
best way to teach is to package
learning into something joyful and
playful like a story, poem, painting,
or a song. The medium that comes
naturally to her is storytelling! She
loves reading and writing. She was
born in a tropical city in the
southern part of India and grew up
hearing stories from her father and
melodious songs from her mother.
She loves both her sisters dearly.
She currently lives in Henderson,
Nevada with her beloved husband
and two wonderful boys.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>THIRD PRIZE Picture Book category</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Marcus - King of the Dandelions</div><div style="text-align: center;">by L. Malungu</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvpoNm7Kq4ASrOboXYx82IV6ljHjnAfHsuoKGpAUYF2Ev1qGai3jAgqrrZjR_L985I4VheO4LcaEH-tVRyk6IdnNMxXWs7cYccTPK8_sv5R-77uNEX10syzl3ebdqOs-FKJ7edEZcs1RGjgVdiIEypEVbZw2qga3p4eJstyR2txMU9hyphenhyphenh_IO8esLCR_k/s425/Marcus%20King%20of%20the%20Dandelions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWvpoNm7Kq4ASrOboXYx82IV6ljHjnAfHsuoKGpAUYF2Ev1qGai3jAgqrrZjR_L985I4VheO4LcaEH-tVRyk6IdnNMxXWs7cYccTPK8_sv5R-77uNEX10syzl3ebdqOs-FKJ7edEZcs1RGjgVdiIEypEVbZw2qga3p4eJstyR2txMU9hyphenhyphenh_IO8esLCR_k/s16000/Marcus%20King%20of%20the%20Dandelions.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Marcus-King-Dandelions-L-Malungu/dp/B0BRD9WGRT" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">This story, as with the other books in the Marcus series, invites young readers to explore their natural world and experience its wonders through the eyes of its loveable protagonist. The syllabic highlighting of text provides young readers greater ease in applying phonetic understanding to decode new vocabulary. The rich vocabulary is intentional, and awakens the mind to an exciting linguistic adventure that will be experienced by the young reader as a challenge overcome. It is the author's heartfelt desire that this story be an initial spark igniting a life-long passion for reading and unlocking the power of literacy for its readers.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As an educator and educational
researcher, L. Malungu is concerned
that our media savvy youngsters are
losing the chance to experience the As
an educatmagic of reading, preferring
instead to rely on a more passive,
media-rich exposure to literature—
while entertaining, movies are
someone else’s interpretation of a
story. She has never forgotten how her
own love for reading was ignited at the
age of 5 during her first visit to the
school library, when the librarian
whispered in her ear — “Reading is
magic and opens the door to
everything and anything you want to
learn!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>THIRD PRIZE Fiction category</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Rescue Ranch Rising: Book 3</div><div style="text-align: center;">by Heidi Thomas</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaPRnRFPTdHmfuQZhbZDA4tkQj0NGpdT0bDyOKVJ2gfLZRY8JgIFy1T07Y7wgJ5Mke-2YzScL3tSR9vnioTDI7Dj4UF5eVd9UbocxYUG2ggk9YW_seG2dF7OLZWt-yGZY8cTlZPypm640RQPU-4mduomG5TNBLvTxJIfpvszKBHiKRdHqV4QuDP4GAbI/s1524/Rescue%20Ranch%20Rising.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1524" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIaPRnRFPTdHmfuQZhbZDA4tkQj0NGpdT0bDyOKVJ2gfLZRY8JgIFy1T07Y7wgJ5Mke-2YzScL3tSR9vnioTDI7Dj4UF5eVd9UbocxYUG2ggk9YW_seG2dF7OLZWt-yGZY8cTlZPypm640RQPU-4mduomG5TNBLvTxJIfpvszKBHiKRdHqV4QuDP4GAbI/w262-h400/Rescue%20Ranch%20Rising.jpg" width="262" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Ranch-Rising-Heidi-Thomas/dp/0999066358" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">Samantha Moser rescues horses…horses with the power to heal. She’ helps troubled teens and veterans with severe PTSD through her passion and her equine friends. Harsh Montana winters, abandonment by her fiance, in addition to limited finances, dishonest contractors, and a disastrous barn fire turn her dream of a healing center to ashes.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">When the man she loves doesn’t appear to share her feelings, she’s left to overcome a mountain of doubt and fear alone.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">Once again, Samantha is at a crossroads in her life. Can she reignite her romance while resurrecting her dream from ashes, or will she have to choose between them?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgKqYhogM5XbfABFK4TqNhQYkzklSSg41sCtDQ6F2o9PXS1kOcYcrFalpli3lc6QO-K8tJA7hSWK-TkufJ9o3EdvznWuIMcS2p5G6z1V0bRU73dwUlxTAe4d34rIFVC-Cq8eHaBq5GZegTju4Pm9FaSwFY255ySer4lYWsPuovrpsnnxkWFLhh-mPodQ/s275/Heidi%20Thomas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgKqYhogM5XbfABFK4TqNhQYkzklSSg41sCtDQ6F2o9PXS1kOcYcrFalpli3lc6QO-K8tJA7hSWK-TkufJ9o3EdvznWuIMcS2p5G6z1V0bRU73dwUlxTAe4d34rIFVC-Cq8eHaBq5GZegTju4Pm9FaSwFY255ySer4lYWsPuovrpsnnxkWFLhh-mPodQ/s1600/Heidi%20Thomas.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><br />Heidi Thomas grew up in eastern
Montana, riding and gathering cattle.
Her parents taught her a love of books,
and her grandmother rode bucking
stock in rodeos. She followed her
dream of writing with a journalism
degree from the University of
Montana. Heidi has published ten
books and received two WILLA
Literary Awards and four Will Rogers
Medallion awards, among others. Heidi
lives in Chino Valley, where she writes
and works as a freelance editor. She is
a member of Arizona Authors
Association, Professional Writers of
Prescott, and Women Writing the
West.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>THIRD PRIZE Young Adult/Juvenile category</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Daughter of the Trolls</div><div style="text-align: center;">by McKenzie Catron</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbaO7Zb8Z4TqPf_OL-eaAaR_nOUoqsBGoRdC78L7UbVTHckCTuSeXMm5oKimMe8IWpP9Ul0xBLU2J4EOjEA0scpyj3WCd6DxkcEdHMIFbm45gW5ArBvyyOuZd3hIwxx5VD5oaX6ytk9q7lc0roZsb2punG2-z5pvArQyLYbpFX6n8RKDz6UG-QmNqLFcc/s425/A%20daughter%20of%20the%20Trolls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbaO7Zb8Z4TqPf_OL-eaAaR_nOUoqsBGoRdC78L7UbVTHckCTuSeXMm5oKimMe8IWpP9Ul0xBLU2J4EOjEA0scpyj3WCd6DxkcEdHMIFbm45gW5ArBvyyOuZd3hIwxx5VD5oaX6ytk9q7lc0roZsb2punG2-z5pvArQyLYbpFX6n8RKDz6UG-QmNqLFcc/s16000/A%20daughter%20of%20the%20Trolls.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Trolls-Numina-Parable-Parables-ebook/dp/B09KQV548J" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">Are you afraid of the bogeyman?</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">Eighteen-year-old Sparrow can’t remember a time when she wasn’t. And neither can her mother—or the trolls, imps, gnomes, and faeries who all live in the Glade and call it home. Though Sparrow’s weak heart keeps her wheelchair bound, she and her mother have dedicated their lives to protecting the Glade, especially from the worst bogeyman of them all: the skin-stealing, poison-ingesting witch called Black Annis.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">But one night, Sparrow makes a terrible mistake, and everything she once held dear is taken from her. The Glade is no longer a sanctuary, and the only way Sparrow can save her mother and her friends is to journey out into a monster-ridden world that wasn’t made for her or her wheelchair. Joined by her half-goblin friend, Rush, Sparrow will have to confront her fears before the ones they love are lost forever.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">A Daughter of the Trolls will appeal to fans of European folklore and the darker Grimm Brother’s fairytales. This is a spine-tingling young adult fantasy adventure about evil witches, monsters, and the imperfect heroes who face them all. You’ll join Sparrow and her faerie friends on a life changing journey where they face not only their outer demons, but their inner ones as well.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">McKenzie Catron is a wheelchair bound, autistic, award-winning YA
fantasy author of the Numina Parable
series and co-author of A Traveler's
Guide to The Lucky Gryphon:
Recipes & Regalings. An Arizona
resident for more than two decades,
she lives with her doggy soulmate
and service beast, Grimm. McKenzie
is also a full-time creative makeup
artist and alternative model, fighting
against disability stigmas one
creation at a time. When not spending
her anxious days writing novels or
taking photos in her studio, you can
find her over on Instagram sharing
her art as @mckenziecatron.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>FOURTH PRIZE Young Adult/Juvenile category</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Map of Orbis Terrarum</div><div style="text-align: center;">by DJ Schneider</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhle9AAuYfgwkpa-nKZ-mA-ZIIB1WmCBa-Mr0Y23Hvx34yG1UDbSNk8HDOqpNxIzSq1TtdJ4HaHxbaZVi0Wt_AQ8IEwb3kE_glrUYf1f3jAMVxA8vwNC6XpRwuDjVOp0UlD6NwWvCMnbLG74G7FEYEtpI0UefGzvXU3WdhcUPlg-rYPZ_04k3cI9AlEem4/s425/The%20map%20of%20orbis%20terrarum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhle9AAuYfgwkpa-nKZ-mA-ZIIB1WmCBa-Mr0Y23Hvx34yG1UDbSNk8HDOqpNxIzSq1TtdJ4HaHxbaZVi0Wt_AQ8IEwb3kE_glrUYf1f3jAMVxA8vwNC6XpRwuDjVOp0UlD6NwWvCMnbLG74G7FEYEtpI0UefGzvXU3WdhcUPlg-rYPZ_04k3cI9AlEem4/s16000/The%20map%20of%20orbis%20terrarum.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Map-Orbis-Terrarum-Melanie-Simpson/dp/B0BGZJVY7X" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><h5 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">Her fate rests with the map...</span></span></h5><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">It is 1967 and Fifteen-year-old Melanie Simpson's life has been ripped apart and is lying in shambles. With a mother near death, and her relationship with Frankie faltering, regaining footing, then faltering again, Mel must try to keep a balance between death, love and deceit—afraid to know which will win out.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Someone then steps into her life, changing it forever. She may need to leave home and lose her close friends; possibly forever. She also learns of a truth she refuses to believe and runs from it</span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic !important; text-align: start;">. But from what, and into what?</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Still, she continues her quest, driven by the destiny of a connection with the Sky People and a link to the stars. She resumes her search for the mysterious Orb, a device given to her father by an alien. Now that her father has died, it is up to her to locate the Orb and finish his work.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />She finds a professor who filmed him with the Orb. It shows a hologram of a sixteenth-century map, the </span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic !important; text-align: start;">Map of Orbis Terrarum</span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">, and displays points of energy around the world her father was studying. Could the map reveal the purpose of her quest?<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But in her efforts to reach the professor, death and destruction find their hold.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic !important; text-align: start;">The many layers of Melanie Simpson continue to unfold, driving her along the path of destiny.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">DJ Schneider studied creative
writing at San Francisco Art Institute,
and later at the Log Cabin Literary
Center in Boise, Idaho. He served as
a professional writer/producer in
advertising for radio, television, and
print, having owned an advertising
agency at one point. He is a member
of SCBWI, the Alliance of
Independent Authors, and Northwest
Independent Writers Association.
Currently nearing the Orion Nebula
as he conducts research for his next
Melanie Simpson novel, when he
returns to earth he will continue work
on Melanie’s next great adventure
and other novels in his writing cave
in Oregon. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>FOURTH PRIZE Young Adult/Juvenile category</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Torment: Descension</div><div style="text-align: center;">by Daniel Foster</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgePIWQyjiznAvRTacz9V8InC93_gc1Lu3uPus2AgT2lCqOf0TEQD9cfYREYOB5F94_F_6skLMi4sJk7P3g-4it7LYZVYXFWY8sobMGLY9GR_GmcA0UiiwjJkETTZRn26gF-P8ZFub2fM5SIWX1ZRgr_TX07WMgFfZ6Whht1Jgdcwo_gJ5ERxTj88zjL4A/s425/Torment%20Descension.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgePIWQyjiznAvRTacz9V8InC93_gc1Lu3uPus2AgT2lCqOf0TEQD9cfYREYOB5F94_F_6skLMi4sJk7P3g-4it7LYZVYXFWY8sobMGLY9GR_GmcA0UiiwjJkETTZRn26gF-P8ZFub2fM5SIWX1ZRgr_TX07WMgFfZ6Whht1Jgdcwo_gJ5ERxTj88zjL4A/s16000/Torment%20Descension.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find it on Amazon <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Torment-Descension-Daniel-Foster/dp/1665720662" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; text-align: start;">David and Grace are happy new parents. Their lives couldn't be better, until their baby becomes deathly ill. How far would you go to save your child, your family? Join David on his supernatural journey as he struggles with his own morality in the choices he must make to save his infant son in this classic tale of good versus evil.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Full-time software developer Daniel
Foster is a lifelong artist and student
of the sequential art discipline.
Growing up he filled his hours with
reading comic books, drawing his
own comic book pages, or playing
pickup basketball games at the park.
Currently, he spends time cheering
for his Philadelphia sports teams with
his beloved children, taking his crazy
dog on walks, or working at the
drawing table on his Torment trilogy.
Daniel hopes that people enjoy
reading his graphic novel as much as
he enjoyed creating it. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></span><div><p></p></div>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-33067193361227583932023-11-06T01:00:00.001-07:002023-11-06T01:00:00.151-07:00New Release: Aggression Factor - by Daniel Dickinson<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj232T5zEtBh_KxkLcrWj3K6Xt45nyh67JzwyGayhgvkbG-8vTW6RfbrfOlC39kerLL9xOa8BHrE6m0zG9tMhvcJYKSSzpIJw3jW7aVkCEYoK8GSgGBQbtBWgiBpoVRYuO3XsZ2oMUkevW3AugWK3MoTP3E9YajTPjTpWBJj35siapCHwB7a-mKpinhykM/s425/Agression%20Factor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="303" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj232T5zEtBh_KxkLcrWj3K6Xt45nyh67JzwyGayhgvkbG-8vTW6RfbrfOlC39kerLL9xOa8BHrE6m0zG9tMhvcJYKSSzpIJw3jW7aVkCEYoK8GSgGBQbtBWgiBpoVRYuO3XsZ2oMUkevW3AugWK3MoTP3E9YajTPjTpWBJj35siapCHwB7a-mKpinhykM/w456-h640/Agression%20Factor.jpg" width="456" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Aggression-Factor-Daniel-Dickinson-ebook/dp/B0CB1PMW46" target="_blank">Find it on Amazon Here</a></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px;"></p><div style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Horde sweeps across the Earth, an unstoppable force with advanced technology. The desperate human nations fight a losing battle, facing destruction as the best defenses they can muster fall before the relentless advance of the enemy. They must find a way to defeat the invaders or face destruction.</span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Experience the strife and sacrifice, the fear and heroism of the human race in their battle against the invading Horde, in four stories:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div></span><span class="a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 700 !important;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fallen Iron</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> – Seen as inferior and outdated, Mike and his squadron of A-10 pilots have one more trick up their sleeves.</span></div></span></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700 !important;">Ellie </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">– When the Horde strikes at the heart of the Arizona desert, Ellie and her father flee the last bastion of civilization.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700 !important;">Three of Spades</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> – A routine scouting mission escalates into a fight for survival in the foothills of the Rockies as the Horde advances.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700 !important;">Losses </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">– Ellie made a new home in Vegas, but when the Horde arrives at her doorstep, she's unprepared for what happens next. Can she pull the trigger and end the war?</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_cyQFe4pfaevpbbC2OAe37gjgMq_bPqtKD8z4L3TZCKYyOLpGagcijHJQvKL9l3JDRRwB7dLQueojGqh2DX7hwdYQdky1BUQc4S6xnO4Jpo2gShEYyB_vAC3h0Cz1Uu0fy9Fnc0YTyZr_cSU6F4UEjLBAELLa0lz58cFWSoyMEHoNR1oKS7ud9v8bxg/s465/Daniel%20Dickinson.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_cyQFe4pfaevpbbC2OAe37gjgMq_bPqtKD8z4L3TZCKYyOLpGagcijHJQvKL9l3JDRRwB7dLQueojGqh2DX7hwdYQdky1BUQc4S6xnO4Jpo2gShEYyB_vAC3h0Cz1Uu0fy9Fnc0YTyZr_cSU6F4UEjLBAELLa0lz58cFWSoyMEHoNR1oKS7ud9v8bxg/s320/Daniel%20Dickinson.webp" width="239" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Daniel Dickinson was first published in an annual publication with the short story “Escape from Ogre
Island.” He is also self-published with the short story horror book, Don’t Close Your Eyes: Two Thrilling
Tales of Terror, as well as Gathering Tide and the newly released Aggression Factor. His writing is based
upon a lifetime of creating a realistic realm in which his characters come to life, allowing the reader to
become a part of that world. </span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Daniel has a wonderful family and is a proud father with a beautiful wife. He enjoys traveling and
photography, as well as food and art. One of his many hobbies is taking his daughter and grandkids
camping at least twice a year. He currently lives in the greater Phoenix Area, surviving in the grind and
writing when he can. He enjoys giving presentations about creating worlds and fantasy genres in general.
He looks forward to the challenges of growing as a writer and continuing the adventure that is life. Find out
more about Daniel on his website </span><a href="https://www.tigerforce.net/" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">Daniel Dickinson, Author, Adventurer, Artist (tigerforce.net)</a></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><br /></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-43195727691329993392023-10-30T01:00:00.014-07:002023-10-30T01:00:00.139-07:00New release: Come Walk with Me: Messages from Yeshua - by Jeri Castronova<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAZeND3pCZQw_bxDCKWVJD7-L8adJC3YVEIvo_3e9dgzd7xEzHVo1qeq38gqqnn9-vFbXh_wsZACep7kOlg94FF8zkqIZKW2trTzmOK71WlMPbNoINu6hS9Gwc8wFVD2T602kAy7TnTpzd-SD7vK_FFaTqQVX6NUkeUmfZSftHSBNQWHXptDT9Q6Uec8/s425/comewalkwithme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="283" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAZeND3pCZQw_bxDCKWVJD7-L8adJC3YVEIvo_3e9dgzd7xEzHVo1qeq38gqqnn9-vFbXh_wsZACep7kOlg94FF8zkqIZKW2trTzmOK71WlMPbNoINu6hS9Gwc8wFVD2T602kAy7TnTpzd-SD7vK_FFaTqQVX6NUkeUmfZSftHSBNQWHXptDT9Q6Uec8/w426-h640/comewalkwithme.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Come-Walk-Me-Messages-Yeshua/dp/1958889822" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Dind it on Amazon HERE</span></b></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p></p><div aria-expanded="true" class="a-expander-content a-expander-partial-collapse-content a-expander-content-expanded" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 20px; position: relative;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is not a religious book. These stories came before religion. These are the stories the patriarchy deleted, the truth of Yeshua's life that have never been told, until Now.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yeshua could not have become the Divine Masculine Christ without his Divine Feminine counterpart. This book is for those who thirst for more about the true teachings, healings, miracles, travels to Tibet, India, Glastonbury, Egypt, Turkey, France, and marriage to his Beloved Mary Magdalene.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">Many Christians believe all they have to do is believe in Yeshua without doing anything else-no kindness to others or to animals, no helping the poor, no generosity to the sick. Yeshua emphasized serving others and doing inner work by living his teachings through the loving vibration of his words.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">Many have given up on Yeshua and turned to new gods-money, technology, science, and control. They don't realize they have insulted not only themselves, but God. They willingly submit to mass hypnosis which keeps them under the spell of evil leaders who claim their souls and keep them subservient to satanic forces.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">In past life regressions many years ago, the Author saw herself as an apostle who was close to Yeshua. She never told anyone about this life or other lifetimes, but they opened up new vistas in her current life that brought realization of new talents that could be reawakened.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">And so began memories of her life as the Apostle John, not the Baptist, rather the one known as John the Beloved. Yeshua said many of her memories would be in the book as personal experiences and eye-witness accounts to healings, miracles, travels, and quiet moments of contemplation with the followers.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yeshua Today: The Romans didn't want people to worship a God, Goddess, or anyone else except them. So it was then, and so it is now. They were the reptilians, the dracos, and the cabal. They later became the Nazis, the Bolsheviks, the communists, and the socialists in your countries. They are the same as they were when I walked with you in those days.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">It has taken two thousand years for people to wake up to the slavery they live under. You incarnated now to clear the earth of these evil ones and deliver Gaia to her peaceful, loving Beauty she deserves.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">A Message from Mary Magdalene: I have had so many lifetimes, always returning in forms to serve the Mother and to be a physical embodiment of love, of beauty, so being the Oracle at Delphi was my role appropriate to that time, when the seeker, shall we say, of which you were one, believed that they had to find one who had the wisdom, insight, the vision to guide them but the important part of this is the advancement of what we would call human and spiritual evolution that they have moved so far beyond this.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">My Beloved Sisters and Brothers: None of you have come to the planet at this time to be hidden away, whether it is a temple, a cave or social isolation. You have not come to live that way. So what I say to you which is what I have said always - STEP FORWARD AND DECLARE YOUR FREEDOM and it is too DARN BAD if those who are nervous or insular do not like what you have to say.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">IT IS TIME TO BE HEARD! It is time for your voice to ring out! It is the vibration that courses through the words. The vibration of love and yes the vibration of truth as well.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">And there are many upon the planet even now who are experiencing the fulfillment of what they have been told long ago in Delphi.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the generation that is seeing Revelation come to fruition. Yeshua calls to You who feel lost, controlled, or beaten down by life. He tells You to not lose Hope. His Love is around You, sustained by the Holy Breath of God.</span></span></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi99FJzOcRWeNup4IDZHHgxjijshW49xUWBNeU6R3COq6289uyPE3KCSjkHPyGd1IpwPTabv8K65E5O_UIIiQMnY9ZkRZ3G_NJqiGuy9QWQxzfrLWHN-Az3lnCe0uF09GTeBnh7tGodGFL4FnKqMwrKp0k3QHT985_tDi82nF_jaHcnluoAYl33oLqMM8/s238/JeriCastronova.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="178" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi99FJzOcRWeNup4IDZHHgxjijshW49xUWBNeU6R3COq6289uyPE3KCSjkHPyGd1IpwPTabv8K65E5O_UIIiQMnY9ZkRZ3G_NJqiGuy9QWQxzfrLWHN-Az3lnCe0uF09GTeBnh7tGodGFL4FnKqMwrKp0k3QHT985_tDi82nF_jaHcnluoAYl33oLqMM8/s1600/JeriCastronova.webp" width="178" /></a></div><br />Jeri Castronova, PhD, Spiritual Psychologist, Award-Winning Author, Artist, Poet, World
Traveler, Energy Healer and Mystic Channel for the Masters. Past Board Member of AZ
Authors. Past President of Prescott Writers. Conference Presentations and Workshops: Sacred
Egypt with Goddess Isis, Discovering Our Past Lives, Seducing the Muse, Freeing the Inner
Goddess. As a Clinical Psychologist, she worked in psychiatric hospitals with the severely
mentally ill designing treatment plans based on psychological testing, individual and group
therapy, art and poetry therapy, and trained psychology interns. After several life-transforming
experiences in Egypt, Israel, Italy, Britain, and Greece, her focus changed dramatically and she
began working with the Divine Masters. With 30 years experience in the mystical healing arts,
she is dedicated to opening the portals to inner sacred truth to enhance creativity, lift the veils
on our talents and skills, and shine Yeshua’s and Mary Magdalene’s brilliance into our lives.
Find out more about Jeri on her website: <a href="https://jericastranova.com" target="_blank">https://jericastranova.com</a> </span></span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -4px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="a-expander-header a-expander-partial-collapse-header" style="background-color: white; bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; opacity: 1; outline: 0px; position: absolute; width: 682px;"><a aria-expanded="true" class="a-declarative" data-a-expander-toggle="{"allowLinkDefault":true, "expand_prompt":"Read more", "collapse_prompt":"Read less"}" data-action="a-expander-toggle" data-csa-c-func-deps="aui-da-a-expander-toggle" data-csa-c-id="bruldm-2s3s19-usnnvi-63helb" data-csa-c-type="widget" data-csa-interaction-events="click" role="button" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #007185;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i class="a-icon a-icon-extender-collapse" style="background-image: none; background-position: -94px -293px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 400px 900px; border-color: rgb(15, 17, 17); border-image: initial; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px 2px 2px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 7px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 0.385em; margin-top: -1px; opacity: 1; padding: 3px; position: relative; transform: rotate(-135deg); vertical-align: baseline; width: 7px;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></i></span></a></div>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-72293224257478885692023-10-23T01:00:00.001-07:002023-10-23T01:00:00.142-07:00What’s in a Name? - by Robert Ronning<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><i>What's in a name?</i></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i><div style="text-align: center;">That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”</div><div style="text-align: center;">Romeo & Juliet, Act II, scene 2</div></i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuaHEfxLoHeDJDBEBNlaQZw4Aq7Y6r0Z4oa3A6SOseSxy_ZkhA1fJsZWMUxrAa0z9glOx2oUNd1LvTvGa-AtvmGRXqCd0P_6voaMZ4DcG-r420L5SkaUGlXjgw_nIZOFA1yCBFH1SW3bu9jJCTtRxYbuHsDsdzuLuOQf57m2PRlK3qaoK6GC_qQPQWyNU/s444/Robert%20Ronning.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuaHEfxLoHeDJDBEBNlaQZw4Aq7Y6r0Z4oa3A6SOseSxy_ZkhA1fJsZWMUxrAa0z9glOx2oUNd1LvTvGa-AtvmGRXqCd0P_6voaMZ4DcG-r420L5SkaUGlXjgw_nIZOFA1yCBFH1SW3bu9jJCTtRxYbuHsDsdzuLuOQf57m2PRlK3qaoK6GC_qQPQWyNU/s320/Robert%20Ronning.webp" width="239" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br />When people hear you do a bit of writing, naturally they want to know what you write. If it’s a book, they ask what
it’s about or what it’s called. Let’s face it, a book needs a name with some pizazz. If you can’t come up with a snappy
attention-getter, will a reader bother peeking at that first chapter you worried over?</span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There’s a lot riding on the name. Would a rose really smell as sweet to Juliet if Romeo called it a radish? We’re
drawn to the sound as much as the scent of a rose. Labels matter. The Agony and the Ecstasy is an awesome title. But
conjuring a title like that might have involved more agony than ecstasy.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">There are tons of tips on how to come up with zippy labels that supposedly sell books. You can make a list of words
and phrases relating to the story or characters. You alter and rearrange them as you write your story, until you have a
good feel for the right combos. Then test market on your friends or beta readers; with any luck, you might end up
owning that name. An original title might even end up a cliché you and everybody else owns forever (Catch 22). Better
to double check on Google or Amazon, where you could find authors who already “own” your title, from books
published years ago. You end up in a Catch 22.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Titles are better when brief, relevant, and provocative, but not always all three. Take a 1970’s movie called Love and
Pain and the Whole Damn Thing, hardly brief but so sweeping and all-encompassing it seems to embrace . . . well,
every damn thing. Consider titles of books, movies, plays, and songs that really grab you. Some are simple and direct
(Psycho), some a tad exotic (Casablanca). Imagine if Bogart had insisted on calling it Rick’s Café (or, even more inept,
Everybody Comes to Rick’s, which sounds like a sitcom but actually was the title of the original play the film was based
on.) Some hit on a core word or phrase (Spellbound) that echoes through your head with a certain tonal vibration just
short of eliciting an ear worm. (The Spellbound soundtrack is kind of ear worm stuff.) Others stick with you (Rear
Window), vivid images lingering in your mind’s eye long after a forgotten story. Some lure you in (Close Encounters of
the Third Kind) as opposed to its earlier version (Watch the Sky), which might induce a stiff neck. Then there’s a special
one for me (Sophie’s Choice) that compels you to read about the choice this Sophie person has to make. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In future plagues, if and when, what provocative titles will help tell our stories? Lawrence Wright’s The End of
October, a recently published thriller he imagined prior to COVID-19, tells of a virus that “brings the world to its
knees.” Wright is an award-winning journalist and author; even so, such a scenario demands a doozy of a title to
encompass the boredom, anxiety, terror, and death—and everything in-between—that would be heaped on humanity.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Audacity tempts me to launch my next project with a primal heading that I can build a story around. Writing
instructors recommend the other way around—fit a title to what you’ve written. But scribes often practice a kind of
reverse engineering, creating the very end of the story first, then a plot and characters to fit the ending. Why not a
bolder approach: start with a title you adore and buckle up for a wild ride of crafting a whole story to fit it.
What’s in a Name?
by Robert Ronning </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I like to jot down terse phrases I consider rather catchy or curious, like, He Didn’t Know What Hit Him . . . It All
Happened So Quickly . . . Gone in a Puff of Smoke . . . The Geeks Have a Word for It, the latter likely a slow
nonfiction. Of course, there are titles relating to heartbreak and regret that authors keep using because they’re
irresistible (Hindsight is 20/20). </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">My list includes titles from old black and white Hollywood movies. Writer-director Preston Sturges had some
winners (The Lady Eve, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek) that don’t disappoint, especially when you learn in the latter
film what the “miracle” is. While dictating his memoir at New York’s Algonquin Hotel, sadly, Sturges died of a heart
attack. His memoir title proved prophetic: The Events Leading Up to My Death … not to mention inevitable.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">French chanteuse Edith Piaf’s autobiography The Wheel of Fortune seems a rather humdrum title. But to match her
stormy, passionate life of only 47 years, what could be better than the label for her collection of French songs: I Regret
Nothing, words Piaf will own forever, a testament to a life of courage, passion and pain.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">I’m unlikely ever to write a memoir, but Piaf inspires me with a title I might own. I could call it I Have Forgotten
Everything. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Robert Ronning is author of Wild Call to Boulder Field—An Arizona Trail Adventure. More of his writing can be
found on his Web site <a href="http://www.RobertRonningAuthor.com" target="_blank">www.RobertRonningAuthor.com</a> </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-88879796170387680052023-10-16T01:00:00.001-07:002023-10-16T01:00:00.152-07:00Dip your toe into different waters - the short forms - by Karen Odden<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkuCiCCBFkZy-Fxq_Dw6RmBcispOLyAfFda0oPnrE0XrFyYKPdt-dhOai_yf5M5NuAbjG9gY2H-gkdxV84r4Nx1Wf1MAOY4CqO-kqWB1pqs0OEgHW8C2m0PKGx49tXGXgWUZmOugmQT61bLvYIM_pOxpsw6PRPyQqTKTz_n6UtLws-OPNo5rJsq7BK_A/s960/karen%20Odden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="959" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkuCiCCBFkZy-Fxq_Dw6RmBcispOLyAfFda0oPnrE0XrFyYKPdt-dhOai_yf5M5NuAbjG9gY2H-gkdxV84r4Nx1Wf1MAOY4CqO-kqWB1pqs0OEgHW8C2m0PKGx49tXGXgWUZmOugmQT61bLvYIM_pOxpsw6PRPyQqTKTz_n6UtLws-OPNo5rJsq7BK_A/s320/karen%20Odden.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"> This past summer I worked on my new novel, and there were times when I felt like I was fighting it. This isn't
normal for me. But I'm wrestling with some heavy themes that require delicate handling. At times, each paragraph felt
overwrought and yet trite and underwhelming. I know when this happens, it means I need to step away and clear my
head.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Hiking helps. Also, knitting. No joke, I'm like the mad hatter these days, knitting all these beanies. I need to make some
more friends, so I have people to give them to!</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Sometimes I step away by writing short essays and blog posts, and I've done a few this summer. One of them, on the
tension between truth and verisimilitude in historical fiction, is HERE on Debra Goldstein's wonderful blog.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">But this summer I decided to step away from that knotty novel by dipping my toe into the waters of short stories. Not
because they're easy -- in many ways, they're more difficult. I tend to lean into historical context and backstory ... and
there's not a lot of room for those in shorter fiction. Not to mention, if it's a mystery, fitting in all those twists can make
the whole thing feel like a mutant pretzel.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Some years ago at the Tucson Book Festival I went to a panel on short stories, with four writers. And when an audience
member asked, what's the difference between a novel and a short story, one of the panelists (I wish I could remember
her name) responded with a story. She'd been a ranger in a national forest for some years. She patrolled a certain section
and she knew every path, every tree, every waterhole, every animal track. One day she rounded a corner and saw a
mountain lion. It growled, and she growled back; it showed its teeth, and she shouted, waving her pickaxe over her
head; it took a step forward, and she held her ground, and eventually it turned and left. She concluded by saying that
writing a novel is like patrolling a piece of ground, and a short story is like an encounter with a mountain lion.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">I thought this was a fantastic metaphor for short stories -- brief, intense, and challenging, with very little back story! --
and it stuck with me. This summer, I wrote three short stories, exploring one of the themes from my novel in each one ...
although of course I didn't figure that out until later. As usual, my writing shows me what I'm wrestling with better than
I can see it myself.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">To me, the short story is also akin to a playpen. Small, square, padded. With toys. Overhead mobiles with small, sparkly
objects.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">If you've written a short story you'd like to tell me about -- or if you have a good way to step back from your manuscript
-- please share! email me at karen.odden@gmail.com I'll share your tips (anonymously, if you like) in a future Tips
column.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Karen Odden is a USA Today bestselling author; her latest book is Under A Veiled Moon, an Inspector Corravan
mystery. For more writer’s tips and other news, subscribe to Karen’s newsletter or visit her website: <a href="https://karenOdden.com" target="_blank">https://karenOdden.com</a>. </div></span></div><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-48991884922997672242023-10-09T01:00:00.001-07:002023-10-09T01:00:00.150-07:00New Release: ANGEL GUARDIAN, Blue Phantom Book 2 - by Vijaya Schartz<p><br /></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpddGLM_hy5cYGwD1KHpbNlon9rl_yi2ZAj1tm_mD-xAX6TOkTrGX-9QtpiJEkHCbMWFnFeFYyCeu3-EuZlakF6wEY-Zvb82kV4mFZDpe9Qg0lKIsJglWa5hU9PYc9LxRulKgKWVuKNFe7xa6ljFtfieBgFbMhPSTmob0zL3j9_3kvisbqbbUs1OKxvR1/s1280/AGmedium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="800" height="429" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHpddGLM_hy5cYGwD1KHpbNlon9rl_yi2ZAj1tm_mD-xAX6TOkTrGX-9QtpiJEkHCbMWFnFeFYyCeu3-EuZlakF6wEY-Zvb82kV4mFZDpe9Qg0lKIsJglWa5hU9PYc9LxRulKgKWVuKNFe7xa6ljFtfieBgFbMhPSTmob0zL3j9_3kvisbqbbUs1OKxvR1/w268-h429/AGmedium.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://bookswelove.net/schartz-vijaya/" target="_blank">Find more of my books<br />on my BWL page, here.</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Are Alien Angels watching?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is a rumor that the forces of good are constantly protecting us from unspeakable evil, demon hordes, tyrannical galactic leaders, and unseen entities threatening to ravage unsuspecting planets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Most believe these powerful angels are the stuff of legends… until they meet one.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://books2read.com/Angel-Guardian" target="_blank"><b>ANGEL GUARDIAN</b></a>, Book 2 in the <i>Blue Phantom</i> series, is the story of one such angel, who doesn’t remember who or what he is, or what he is supposed to accomplish. Deep inside, he believes he must carry on an important mission, but what is it?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The heroine is also an angel, but regrets her decision of becoming one. She enlisted to save her people, but she is not adapting well to the disciplined military lifestyle required of the crew of the angel ship Blue Phantom. She misses her family.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://books2read.com/Angel-Ship" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="496" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAPUkln5DZ99VPmR6J6wH4k2FJnJq3LgDggeg5xRlUs5-ahCi0L17cixLveFiBOZox0AhWaRa2OxM1A-TUmx2rgXgcyeBMpDsjaWw3gJ4zuGPMmpO3w-byyULZAluFrNuYE7d2Sr7WSzg3EfSFVTnA_M9AD5InjxsX2n1uB65JcZjWi37Lplq2ERIf2fj8/w268-h400/Angel%20Ship%20paperback.jpg" width="268" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://books2read.com/Angel-Ship" target="_blank">Find it from your<br />favorine online store here</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In the Azura universe, the angels are luminous beings, humanoids or AIs, with retractable wings. They have powers of telepathy, teleportation, invisibility, and superhuman strength. They wield angel weapons driven by blue crystal technology. They report only to the “Formless One” and are tasked with keeping the balance of good and evil in the universe. These benevolent angels also do their best to protect the innocent from terrible calamities. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUsQOybDnuDdvi-xBThLOYUikszDBaEeVYO-1oQXa1hngUXGvGDFsYzjCxVCYxcFhC7dByt7JM-auUES6aZqHcQeOYMfSy8LDnu8biGTXXR83L4sABfvUgEnNq2BVTaSwMG0UJxMtW1NmgfPDpF4N_RaVoe82FyETkEnKKc_FR97DnMk8RFD1sXP1pb1v/s2775/Azuratrilogy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1388" data-original-width="2775" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUsQOybDnuDdvi-xBThLOYUikszDBaEeVYO-1oQXa1hngUXGvGDFsYzjCxVCYxcFhC7dByt7JM-auUES6aZqHcQeOYMfSy8LDnu8biGTXXR83L4sABfvUgEnNq2BVTaSwMG0UJxMtW1NmgfPDpF4N_RaVoe82FyETkEnKKc_FR97DnMk8RFD1sXP1pb1v/w640-h320/Azuratrilogy.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank">amazon </a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank">B&N</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank">Smashwords</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank">Kobo</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://books2read.com/Angel-Guardian" target="_blank"><b>ANGEL GUARDIAN</b></a> starts on the frozen world of Laxxar, a forced labor planet using slaves to mine salt. It was mentioned in the previous books mainly as a swearing expression “By the Frozen hells of Laxxar!”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This novel also introduces the Pandemonium Space Station, a moving den of iniquity harboring the scum of the universe, and ruled by a cyborg crime lord. Genetically enhanced big cats are trained to kill in the arena for the games, and publicly execute those condemned to death. The animals are kept in terrible conditions in cages. They can only feed on their victims. Two of these telepathic felines play an important role in this story as well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As for the villainess of this novel, her name is Azfet, the ancient Egyptian goddess of chaos, the only survivor of her race, and she is determined to enslave this galaxy to reign supreme and be worshiped like the gods of old.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://books2read.com/Angel-Guardian" target="_blank"><b>ANGEL GUARDIAN</b></a> can stand alone, like all the other novels set in the Azura universe, (Azura Chronicles series, Byzantium Space Station series, Blue Phantom series). But if you are like me, you’ll want to read all the other books in these series as well:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJyrv3zp2Tq9mIKpdOhcuYhB-rp8E2REQUzItvskkmEW19hqFeooz9zS5LKuHxvujy8KWFG5gB3bDYn9Rv2Nk115r0N8nFcuFoEQz1DVvxAbRWOjI5OrN57g_IVBoIuzjZ_0yjBs02pXQJBKiDirMp_EIwv-HxJkdiZvllPxuz4tzvCOSk8Ln6liKhTkE/s1394/Byzantium%20trilogy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1394" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJyrv3zp2Tq9mIKpdOhcuYhB-rp8E2REQUzItvskkmEW19hqFeooz9zS5LKuHxvujy8KWFG5gB3bDYn9Rv2Nk115r0N8nFcuFoEQz1DVvxAbRWOjI5OrN57g_IVBoIuzjZ_0yjBs02pXQJBKiDirMp_EIwv-HxJkdiZvllPxuz4tzvCOSk8Ln6liKhTkE/w640-h322/Byzantium%20trilogy.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank">amazon </a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank">B&N</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank">Smashwords</a><span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: start;" target="_blank">Kobo</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Happy Reading!</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /><br /><br />Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author<br />Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats<br /><a href="http://www.vijayaschartz.com/" target="_blank">http://www.vijayaschartz.com</a><br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank">amazon </a>- <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" target="_blank">B&N</a> - <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" target="_blank">Smashwords</a> - <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" target="_blank">Kobo </a>- <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Vijaya-Schartz-Author-109777709045040/" target="_blank">FB</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-59005381646045306892023-09-29T09:53:00.001-07:002023-09-29T09:53:43.864-07:00Congratulations to all the 2023 Arizona Literary Contest finalists!<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">The winners will be announced at the Awards Banquet<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Saturday November 4, 2023, at noon<br />at </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Bottega's, 19420 N. 59th Avenue, Glendale, AZ</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Tickets for writers and guests are $50 each.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: center;">For more information, contact:</div><div style="text-align: center;">Toby Heathcotte at:
toby@tobyheathcotte.com</div><div style="text-align: center;">Payment deadline is November 1st.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Send check or money order to:
Arizona Authors Association
6145 West Echo Lane
Glendale, AZ 85302-5709</div><div style="text-align: center;">Or:
Pay to: arizona.authors@yahoo.com at PAYPAL</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div></span><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Here are the finalists, in alphabetical order:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Alcorn, Janet: Mourning Doves <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Ball, Joy: Winnie Goes to School <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Benny, Kris: Freester’s First Easter<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Bernard, Elizabeth: Sisters of Castle Leod <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Bernhardt, Peter: Red Romeo: Stasi Gigolos and the Spy Hunter of Germany<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Binsfeld, Lisa: Rootbound <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Burgess, Melanie: The Fingerprints of God <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Catron, McKenzie: Daughter of the Trolls <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Cruz, Nora: Gracias Maestra! <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Edwards, Mary Coday: To Travel Well, Travel Light<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Foster, Daniel: Torment Descension <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Hackman, Derek: A Machine Divine <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Hart, William: Elephants Are Not Artists <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Hershey, Joshua: Linden Falls <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">LaSaga, K.C.: Dragum<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Malungu, L.: Marcus- King of the Dandelions <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Merrill, Allison Hong: Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Norris, A.S.: The Wayward Mage Volume 1 <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Poplinger, Rick: Adventure in the Land of Changes <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Schneider, David: The Map of Orbus Terrarum <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Solovey, Dev: Rebel Memories<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Thomas, Heidi: Rescue Ranch Rising: Book 3 <br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Volk, Christopher H.: The Value Equation: </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">A Business Guide To Wealth Creation<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">for Entrepreneurs, Leaders,
and Investors</span></div>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-20995717929048875862023-09-21T01:00:00.002-07:002023-09-21T01:00:00.149-07:00New Release: The Weighmaster, by Bart Ambrose<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxLrfqmAO7QFFMTW7dVDePC6b3ixiARcFV4fsow8GlPckaCn3ygk9DuRvRP2PPBSfgkhcWpRhKJ6wj5bWOw3o8J_Vv841kQ6egRZGriYkN9lDXbFUl3fZOgFxoSSLwo0itRcd0724zTVV6ImezwytpEpOG6r2ojl9CYjlc9PuoEodbr4BqEcgNHvUaeU/s1500/The%20Weighmaster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxLrfqmAO7QFFMTW7dVDePC6b3ixiARcFV4fsow8GlPckaCn3ygk9DuRvRP2PPBSfgkhcWpRhKJ6wj5bWOw3o8J_Vv841kQ6egRZGriYkN9lDXbFUl3fZOgFxoSSLwo0itRcd0724zTVV6ImezwytpEpOG6r2ojl9CYjlc9PuoEodbr4BqEcgNHvUaeU/w426-h640/The%20Weighmaster.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Weighmaster-Wolf-Among-Sheep/dp/B0C87HHRLV" target="_blank">Find it on Amazon HERE</a></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Sean O’Conner returns home as a decorated hero after being wounded and surviving intense action as a commando behind German lines on D-Day, 1944. He suffers the heartbreaking loss of his parents while in a British hospital and decides to follow in his father’s footsteps by joining the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona. His first case is to investigate a girl gone missing from a transients’ cotton picker camp west of Phoenix. The seemingly routine disappearance leads Sean down a twisting and dangerous path to a man known as the Weighmaster and a mysterious place called the Orange Palace. His efforts reveal the Weighmaster's vicious kidnapping of teenage girls from the cotton fields to sell them into prostitution in a human trafficking operation that leads through the Orange Palace to organized crime in Detroit.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;">Sean’s relentless efforts to find the missing girls lead to attempts on his life and more tragic personal loss as he pursues the Weighmaster. The two men become locked in a revenge-fueled struggle that only one will survive.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #0f1111;"><br /></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><div style="text-align: justify;">The Weighmaster will keep you turning pages to follow the perilous investigation and breakup of a criminal organization that leads from Detroit to Phoenix and finally deep into Mexico.</div></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: 0px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Bart Ambrose was born in Phoenix and grew up on an Arizona cotton farm. He spent long nights on the farm reading novels and teaching himself to play guitar. Books such as Moby Dick, The Grapes of Wrath, The Old Man and the Sea, and many others gave him an early appreciation of literature and a desire to one day become an author.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Bart worked as a natural resource conservationist after graduating from Arizona State University. His work took him all over the western U.S and the Pacific Basin where he gained a special appreciation for the land, history, and cultures of the region.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; margin: -4px 0px 14px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Along the way, Bart performed as a guitarist and vocalist with several groups in Arizona and California. His interest in songwriting led him to Nashville after retiring from his career as a conservationist. He spent many years in “Music City” writing songs, coaching other songwriters, and teaching guitar for songwriters.</span></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-90851427514883312832023-09-12T01:00:00.001-07:002023-09-12T01:00:00.136-07:00The joys of Arizona living... or, when the bugs attack - by Vijaya Schartz<p> </p><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBNqjTQ1YKDOx-0i47zVf2jwE2ctTqy6-eRkI46ZhKTBswOJED6hDNn0xRdIUzdF6QC4aBc8jR8A8QJqGoyQXq1SJG5wUWolatU1QBX5ozvuMAC9c6u_w723E3b3uQgji2PgQxgC8Y-pHm1pomCvH9O2IQpxFW20LSj7-kPysf5tOsNYgFMSP311pdOSh/s1280/AGmedium.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBNqjTQ1YKDOx-0i47zVf2jwE2ctTqy6-eRkI46ZhKTBswOJED6hDNn0xRdIUzdF6QC4aBc8jR8A8QJqGoyQXq1SJG5wUWolatU1QBX5ozvuMAC9c6u_w723E3b3uQgji2PgQxgC8Y-pHm1pomCvH9O2IQpxFW20LSj7-kPysf5tOsNYgFMSP311pdOSh/w400-h640/AGmedium.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">ANGEL GUARDIAN - October 2023 release<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">The extreme heat this summer has brought another problem to Arizona. BUGS. Big ugly sewer roaches, looking for comfy air-conditioned places with pet food aplenty and well stocked kitchen pantries.</div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMgaE13v7ckcJxXkA2Mvy-Q_veI79GrDsFssrdiiGHIiIowAN2lSU1vdExoE4v89RQnYLmTJ-vLuAhIBCb4pwCY_qY-RDJ3IS-DfgjIrApvgA1bnK1uYPNF_WYxbTLlPT8TxBUOX59NbKA-ZXWgZDgg_b3acSlU0vXu9RKxpwlxgPsR3IUw2HZIdik_soN/s2048/Autumn%2022%20sunrise%20on%20Olive.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMgaE13v7ckcJxXkA2Mvy-Q_veI79GrDsFssrdiiGHIiIowAN2lSU1vdExoE4v89RQnYLmTJ-vLuAhIBCb4pwCY_qY-RDJ3IS-DfgjIrApvgA1bnK1uYPNF_WYxbTLlPT8TxBUOX59NbKA-ZXWgZDgg_b3acSlU0vXu9RKxpwlxgPsR3IUw2HZIdik_soN/w300-h400/Autumn%2022%20sunrise%20on%20Olive.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sunrise from my balcony</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Unlike private homes that can be tented, mega apartment complexes are not easy to control. I’m talking about twenty-two large three-storied buildings totaling over 870 apartments.</div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, they recourse to drastic measures, doing sweeps building by building, asking residents to remove everything from drawers, cupboards, pantries, closets, and even linen drawers, for an extreme fumigation operation. It’s backbreaking work, like moving out, then moving back in, on very short notice. Everything is supposed to be piled up on couch and bed, or on the balconies, and everything must be covered with tarps or sheets, or blankets, to protect it from highly toxic fumes. Not conforming to the instructions carries steep fines and a do over.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, you have to leave the apartment for four hours, and pets are to be removed from the premises…</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And they are planning a follow-up in a week, but without the backbreaking work of moving everything out. Although, it will require leaving the premises for four hours again.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And all this is happening while I’m polishing my next novel, ANGEL GUARDIAN, to be released in October.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was afraid King Pasha would panic, but he took all these upsetting events in stride, like a champ. Not a peep, not a complaint. He remained perfectly cool in his pet carrier, and took a nap in the management lobby, while I was working on my book.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3ubtlceTRsNzny6A1h31NkkywT8ygLpX8JNEruLSymzHCZeWmQ6QAVeNDL8jxO23t9lcK_KF2J8KvSbbKVmGiI4tau1MVbi-fo81kNbhfjlubGNQQDkIT_WjfZFDoTDkcR9mVotyyqOa-MAVH6oRom0dzCMZ1YEegXiXFfNurYVGFNGoeJiPRerEA3pC/s2048/2023%20Pasha%206.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1955" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3ubtlceTRsNzny6A1h31NkkywT8ygLpX8JNEruLSymzHCZeWmQ6QAVeNDL8jxO23t9lcK_KF2J8KvSbbKVmGiI4tau1MVbi-fo81kNbhfjlubGNQQDkIT_WjfZFDoTDkcR9mVotyyqOa-MAVH6oRom0dzCMZ1YEegXiXFfNurYVGFNGoeJiPRerEA3pC/w381-h400/2023%20Pasha%206.jpg" width="381" /></b></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">But don’t worry, everything will be fine in the end, and ANGEL GUARDIAN promises to be an exciting story, with epic battles in space with angels and demons, Mythical goddesses wreaking havoc, and a hero with amnesia, who doesn’t know he is an angel.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkj1NArU8CppmEweLSXM9bENbvJod-FlOzKQfAebfgFG6Hl8wlHr_R9HOK6S5cdbelSRVjcXxTghkiWW0HmoV09mqgExV58hcRWMR8a3R1a1Cqnw_n1kE8Gg4mYJIbZUFpXafIpT3PKK_5IA6Mdle9wiFMAxNg-zkwqItzyg17Cjbwn4CRzi_FmWLnCnk2/s743/Angel%20Ship%20paperback.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="496" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkj1NArU8CppmEweLSXM9bENbvJod-FlOzKQfAebfgFG6Hl8wlHr_R9HOK6S5cdbelSRVjcXxTghkiWW0HmoV09mqgExV58hcRWMR8a3R1a1Cqnw_n1kE8Gg4mYJIbZUFpXafIpT3PKK_5IA6Mdle9wiFMAxNg-zkwqItzyg17Cjbwn4CRzi_FmWLnCnk2/w268-h400/Angel%20Ship%20paperback.jpg" width="268" /></b></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">amazon </a><span style="text-align: justify;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">B&N</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Smashwords</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Kobo</a></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">In the meantime, you can read ANGEL SHIP, the first book in this series, although all my series novels can stand alone. You can also read the sister series, Azura Chronicles, and the Byzantium space station series. Happy reading!</div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMyRC4clwhpQHLfdqoaUIlCLl-_1Wj06-8cVvOj7yPcHFLtq27rmzvK54M8vT8f8cHp3KBRccK9ro23po8VE9-UKDQ61_0FwpSjP218SkxTbGYwCRo_Y9ETZisFihqcnmPXF1xD9YElXF7TwjccVFqpRj99UI0ZiNtpzUrfUApSeQKGWJ-XJOnx2rTQ17g/s1394/Byzantium%20trilogy.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1394" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMyRC4clwhpQHLfdqoaUIlCLl-_1Wj06-8cVvOj7yPcHFLtq27rmzvK54M8vT8f8cHp3KBRccK9ro23po8VE9-UKDQ61_0FwpSjP218SkxTbGYwCRo_Y9ETZisFihqcnmPXF1xD9YElXF7TwjccVFqpRj99UI0ZiNtpzUrfUApSeQKGWJ-XJOnx2rTQ17g/w640-h322/Byzantium%20trilogy.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">amazon </a><span style="text-align: justify;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">B&N</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Smashwords</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Kobo</a></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mc95mCGB6kw5jNJ2-ZvJevxvYdP_nn49hRySRbSwl9gncAEUFaeH3r_VPoI4Ni_un3k5z10BF7hJkDuzVE6Cjpb3ceu6nY3UUnLxEa8cC1Mtsk5xP_f6Sv3Kk7SaxPeTNZMDbJgqDNrIqNmrOGb4qSG9RkJLL-lVRoh8hNcT95gUaKcpMkbhgu7DkSxj/s2775/Azuratrilogy.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1388" data-original-width="2775" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mc95mCGB6kw5jNJ2-ZvJevxvYdP_nn49hRySRbSwl9gncAEUFaeH3r_VPoI4Ni_un3k5z10BF7hJkDuzVE6Cjpb3ceu6nY3UUnLxEa8cC1Mtsk5xP_f6Sv3Kk7SaxPeTNZMDbJgqDNrIqNmrOGb4qSG9RkJLL-lVRoh8hNcT95gUaKcpMkbhgu7DkSxj/w640-h320/Azuratrilogy.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">amazon </a><span style="text-align: justify;">- </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">B&N</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Smashwords</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> - </span><a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Kobo</a></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author</div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats</div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.vijayaschartz.com/" target="_blank">http://www.vijayaschartz.com</a></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001JP7UJ4?_encoding=UTF8&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=date-desc-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank">amazon </a>- <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Vijaya%20Schartz%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall" target="_blank">B&N</a> - <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/schartz" target="_blank">Smashwords</a> - <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=%22vijaya%20schartz%22&ac=1&fcsearchfield=Author&ac.morein=true&ac.author=%22vijaya%20schartz%22" target="_blank">Kobo </a>- <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Vijaya-Schartz-Author-109777709045040/" target="_blank">FB</a></div><div style="font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-85468704466472456232023-09-07T01:00:00.001-07:002023-09-07T01:00:00.173-07:00New Release: Nurse Florence(R), What is a Heatstroke? by Michael Dow<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJ8c6tjdEpKdG6CKn5GZBFLtkoZhfcIcyxVZWIhAQptSuemvqUw3T3fv8BWDgHEfX1lpMGD78J78A7xwtmC6ec5VDT0cVSMtEP1E5hnuNGdahGvJBpuIh8TvdRg4dF4Apt7fARF78CGF5lZ-CcKCnLpNcMDPMGrrxH-t-gMwqxVdaT5b0L3bSevRZ8UU/s1360/nurse%20Florence%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="907" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJ8c6tjdEpKdG6CKn5GZBFLtkoZhfcIcyxVZWIhAQptSuemvqUw3T3fv8BWDgHEfX1lpMGD78J78A7xwtmC6ec5VDT0cVSMtEP1E5hnuNGdahGvJBpuIh8TvdRg4dF4Apt7fARF78CGF5lZ-CcKCnLpNcMDPMGrrxH-t-gMwqxVdaT5b0L3bSevRZ8UU/w426-h640/nurse%20Florence%203.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nurse-Florence-R-What-Heatstroke/dp/1365803368" target="_blank">Find it on Amazon HERE</a></span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Sometimes it seems only a nurse can bring technical information down to an understanding that an ordinary person can grasp. The Nurse Florence(R) book series provides high quality medical information that even a child can grasp. By introducing young kids to correct terminology and science concepts at an early age, we can help increase our children's health literacy level as well as help to prepare them for courses and jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. We need more scientists so I hope that many children will enjoy this book series and consider a job involving science. Introducing Some Medical Words to Kids in Every Book</span></span></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4446757341913738895.post-17159552053830196022023-08-29T01:00:00.019-07:002023-08-29T01:00:00.144-07:00What Are You Reading? by Kathleen Cook<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH0SwaWaEWe296hO7bCDrjNh7I-WVdOgE_lU58FK-lvUEdwCmQEYMBCBOlpZTqu-Wwov2Xwh7Y1fyEHdqXQJj26gkQK1LPkd75ivxJoVsh9DOr4o1Y4p2-Ow740v0Kp3Sa3gfCksLLweO6cAWobotB9wG8fgjkvP-L_AmhLeuYipAdFwJhLOPeCL9Zuf4/s288/Kathleen%20Cook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="177" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH0SwaWaEWe296hO7bCDrjNh7I-WVdOgE_lU58FK-lvUEdwCmQEYMBCBOlpZTqu-Wwov2Xwh7Y1fyEHdqXQJj26gkQK1LPkd75ivxJoVsh9DOr4o1Y4p2-Ow740v0Kp3Sa3gfCksLLweO6cAWobotB9wG8fgjkvP-L_AmhLeuYipAdFwJhLOPeCL9Zuf4/s1600/Kathleen%20Cook.jpg" width="177" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: justify;">I love Pat Conroy; as one reviewer put it: “Few writers write as well, but none as
beautifully.” He has a way of making everything so real, so earthy, so gut-wrenchingly
emotional. You always finish the book with a sense that you’ve been part of something
special, and that in some small way, you understand humanity just a little bit more than you
did before reading his work.</div></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> South of Broad is one such example. Set in Charleston, South Carolina, against the backdrop of high school romance, murder, suicide, Hurricane Camille, loss of loved ones and
sexual predators, the book enfolds you in a lifelong friendship from High School through
later years. The bond between this group of friends remains strong throughout the decades, with each one
willing to sacrifice, in adulthood, to find one of their childhood friends. A lost lamb riddled with AIDS,
they hope to bring him back to die in his Charleston home surrounded by love. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">The author obviously knows Charleston very well. As someone who lived as a teen in the Carolinas, I can
relate to the sights, sounds and smells and attest to their authenticity. South of Broad is hilariously funny,
painfully heartbreaking, an upper and a downer all wrapped into one. In the end, however, you can’t help
but believe that the world is a beautiful place because there are still good people in it, friends who will
love you forever no matter your sins.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Kathleen Cook is the Arizona Authors Association Editor as well as its Website Administrator. </span></p>Vijaya Schartzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562958609545624615noreply@blogger.com0