Tuesday, September 17, 2019

THE LOVE MAP BOOK BLAST


THE LOVE MAP: REIGNITE, RECONNECT AND REPAIR YOUR RELATIONSHIP
Jeannie Daly-Gunter, MA
* Self-Help *


Title: THE LOVE MAP: REIGNITE, RECONNECT AND REPAIR YOUR RELATIONSHIP
Author: Jeannie Daly-Gunter
Publisher: Phoenix Rising Press
Pages: 232
Genre: Self-Help


If you aren’t growing together in your relationship, you are likely growing apart. The Love Map: Reignite, Reconnect and Repair Your Relationship, gives couples a blueprint to help navigate the inevitable ups and downs of love. This book is a practical guide, an engaging story, and a workbook. Unlike many of the psychological relationship books on the market today, The Love Map is a compelling ‘teaching story’.  This story follows the marriage of the main characters, Taylor and Jaymie, as they work through an ongoing conflict that has been weighing them down for a year. Sophia, Taylor and Jaymie’s marriage counselor, guides the couple through ten sessions of relationship lessons, that ultimately supports the couple in working through their conflict. Along the way, the reader is encouraged to do the relationship exercises at the end of each chapter as “home play” along with Taylor and Jaymie. This comprehensive ‘self-help story’ is endearing, motivating and practical all at once.  In addition, there are links to workbook pages and videos to support couples in integrating the lessons in the book. The Love Map has been recommended by therapists and those in the personal growth industry as a powerful resource for couples wanting to deepen their connection and create a more conscious and meaningful relationship.

ORDER YOUR COPY

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY AT AMAZON


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Can You Please Just Listen?!

Sophia waited until they were settled on the couch before she continued. “During our first session, I like to take some time for us to get to know each other. I know this is a big deal for you to reach out for support, and I’m honored that you have chosen to work with me. Did you watch the intro videos, and do you have any questions for me before we dive in?” 

Taylor squirmed a bit. “Well, I’m wondering how long this is going to take and if it’s really going to work.” 

Jaymie shot him a did-you-have-to-say-that look?

Sophia smiled. “That’s a fair question. Based on my experience, I recommend starting with ten sessions. That gives us a chance to create a really strong foundation of understanding and essentials for helping you communicate better, learn how to deal with conflicts over time, and experience what it’s like to work through some issues. Some couples need more sessions than that to start with, and it’s something we can check in around along the way. You can also stop at any time if you feel like this isn’t for you. Some couples prefer to meet in a long-weekend intensive and some couples like to pace this out over time.”

“That makes sense,” said Jaymie, wanting to get off to a smoother start. “I like having homework between sessions, so doing this over time makes sense to me. You know, I would love just a bit more clarity on the differences between coaching and therapy, just so we know what to expect.” 

“Sure,” said Sophia. “I know we talked a bit about this on the phone, but basically I combine a lot of approaches based on what you need. In a nutshell, coaching looks more toward what you want to create in the future, while counseling or therapy excavates some of the underlying emotional undercurrents of your present conflicts. Although a lot of couples get stuck in conflict, I think it’s equally important to keep putting proactive energy into our relationships. There is a saying I heard once that, ‘If you’re not growing, you’re dying.’ I believe that is really true in love. I’d say that most couples let their relationship flat-line at some point. They’re too busy or too stressed out dealing with work and family to tend to their love. I like to think of my work as a ‘jump-start’ to help couples reinvigorate their love again.” 

“I like that,” said Jaymie. “I think you’re right, sometimes we do get too busy with other things we think are more important than our relationship. That’s weird isn’t it?”
“Unfortunately,” said Sophia, “I see it all the time. There are three main reasons couples come to see me. They need to repair a conflict or betrayal, they feel emotionally disconnected and they are growing apart, or they want to breathe love back into their relationships. Successful couples are always doing ongoing work to repair, reconnect, and reignite their love. 

After this introduction, Taylor and Jaymie took turns explaining their perspectives on their main conflict and how they had been arguing about the same thing for a year. Taylor began to warm up to Sophia and feel more engaged in the process. 

“We love each other and want to work through this; we just aren’t sure how,” concluded Taylor

Jaymie sighed, “Yeah, we just aren’t getting anywhere with resolving this and it’s turned into a yelling match at times.”






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Jeannie Daly-Gunter, MA is an author, speaker, relationship coach, seminar leader and Co-Founder of The Transformative Loving® Institute. She has facilitated personal and professional development programs for over 25 years. Jeannie and her husband Mark have committed to walking the path of their relationship as a personal and spiritual growth path. Their passion is to support other couples on that path, and help them to create the extraordinary relationship they really want. They combine various modalities in the healing arts, rites of passage, and psychology, to create a powerful container for couples to do their healing work together. Jeannie and Mark make their home near the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Boulder, Colorado.

★ WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS ★


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http://www.pumpupyourbook.com

Monday, September 16, 2019

Book feature: Quest to the Unknown and Darkness and Light by Annelies George





Title: Darkness and Light
Author: Annelies George
Publisher: BI Publishing
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback/Ebook
On Tour: September 9-November 29

DARKNESS AND LIGHT is set five years after the brutal attack in Jessie’s apartment. From Miami to the Seychelles, the now married journalist continues her life journey. The metaphorical meaning of darkness and light are central themes throughout the story. Hatred, greed, betrayal, lies, the desire for power, far reaching jealousy, unconditional love, forgiveness and the noticeable changes in today’s climate are some of the spellbinding features of this plot.In the second part of the Jessie Golden Earth series once more today’s business jungle is intertwined with the intangible world of the other side. This results in an easily readable exciting story set in various countries around the globe, leading to a surprising unexpected end to this part in the series.

PURCHASE HERE





Title: Quest to the Unknown
Author: Annelies George
Publisher: Hybrid Global Publishing
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Format: Paperback/Ebook
On Tour: September 9-November 29


Quest to the Unknown revolves around up-and-coming Dutch reporter Jessie Golden, ready for her first holiday with business mogul and playboy Carlos Gomez, with whom she is engaged in a budding romance. Her journey begins when she finds a folder full of information on a mysterious woman named Nancy and her son Paul, leading her to an unexpected quest. Soon thereafter Jessie is confronted with a series of unexplainable supernatural occurrences. She realizes there is no such thing as coincidence, although she can’t unravel the true meaning of her quest nor her link to Nancy and her son. At the same time Jessie believes Carlos’ father has ties with some questionable characters. Startled by a series of unexpected events she reaches out to Ed Turner, Carlos’ right-hand man. In order to protect the one she truly loves, Jessie starts an investigation that points to the murky world of the mob. When a stranger is constantly following her, Jessie’s life is in serious danger. Can the ones she implicitly confides in, still be trusted? The first part of the Jessie Golden 21st Century Earth Series, introduces the main characters of the saga in an intriguing story of exceptional mother love, the far reaching consequences of choices in life, genuine feelings, blind faith and brutal deception, set in a multitude of countries in today’s fast moving business world.

PURCHASE HERE






Annelies George was born on 4 August, 1964 in Bussum, After the gymnasium, she followed a one-year course as an international secretary in Amsterdam. Immediately afterward she started to work for a law firm, studying finance, management and law during the evening hours with the goal of becoming a lawyer herself. A move to a different town brought her into the fast IT world, where she was employed by GE Capital, marking the start of a successful career in the international IT Finance world. Due to the intensity of the job and long working hours, she abandoned her plans for a law degree. At the age of 30, she was appointed to Benelux managing director of a US based lease company, a rare phenomenon at the time, since few women were holding similar positions in the specific branch in the Netherlands. Thereafter she accepted a variety of EMEA and regional management and sales roles with Cisco, Microsoft, and Hewlett Packard. Annelies still lives in Bussum and is taking care of her 83-year-old mother. She loves, among other activities, to paint and design necklaces when she is not writing. On occasion she likes to travel to discover new places and understand the different ways of living around the globe.

You can visit her at: https://www.anneliesgeorge.com 







Saturday, September 14, 2019

Guest post: 'Creating Characters Readers Love or Love to Hate' by Mystery Authors Rosemary & Larry Mild




A mystery story usually begins with an intriguing or even preposterous plot that tickles your fancy, or an outlandish character you can‘t get out of your mind. No matter how gripping the plot, that story will be an unconvincing hollow shell without memorable characters. In mystery novels, one way to make a sleuth memorable is to play him or her against type—not what you’d expect.  Rex Stout’s genius detective, Nero Wolfe, grows orchids; Janet Evanovich’s tough bounty hunter Stephanie Plum loves Rex, her hamster; and P.D. James’s Scotland Yard Commander, Adam Dalgleish, writes poetry.


Everyone wants something—it’s the pursuit of that something that makes a plot move. Immerse and embroil them in active conflict and imagine how they’ll swim. Put them in harm’s way and give them preferences, hurts to nurture, barriers to hurdle, and goals to achieve. They can be sarcastic, humorous, skeptical, vengeful, vulnerable, and/or opinionated. Keep their demeanor consistent, but not to the extent that they become predictable. 

 To build and flesh out your main characters, create profiles for them. Make up a list of questions aside from the obvious ones like name and physical appearance. What are their favorite and most disliked foods? Schools, job, mannerisms, odd ways of speaking? What do they fear most, crave most that’s missing from their lives? Above all, each character must be a unique individual: sarcastic, humorous, skeptical, vulnerable, opinionated, romantic, etc. Of course, no character is all one thing. Allow the characters to be faulty, neither all good nor all bad. Allow them to keep secrets, create confrontations, and express emotions.

Our characters usually come from real life. Mostly, they’re composites of people we’ve known, loved, admired, and hated—or read about in the newspaper. Some authors start by clipping photos out of magazines so they can easily visualize their characters. Listen, listen, listen wherever you are. Eavesdrop if you must and learn how dialogue tells you about the inner person and sets one character apart from the next. A piece of wicked gossip told to you by a friend or an argument overheard at the airport can work wonders in making a character juicy and real.

The choices your characters make are personal to them, and the writer can make use of all sorts of preferences, including colors, styles, friends, food, drinks, vehicles, and athletics.

Few main characters are born on the day your story starts. Every character has a backstory, a past that affects behavior and choices. Where have they been? Who or what are the influences shaping their lives? What are the formative influences? Has vengeance, loyalty, or ambition left a scar? Backstories—succinctly written—can be useful to explain motivation and deepen the main characters. Boring stick figures grow out of confining descriptions to age, height, weight, girth, hair and eye colors, and clothes. Avoid regurgitating these traits in one fell swoop or “information dumping.” Give the reader only as much description as needed to move the story forward.
 
Ken Follett builds memorable characters in his twentieth-century trilogy. The first book, Fall of Giants, is a historical suspense novel. We never feel that we’re subjected to an academic lesson. We experience all the historical events through the characters’ eyes and actions. Follett is a master at bringing every character alive.

Dare the reader to run with the main character. Allow him or her to experience the same pain, fear, joy, terror, and suspense. Challenge the reader to anticipate and possibly experience the main character’s endearments, repugnancies, logic, and conclusions. There’s something of each author in the characters they create showing up mostly in their dialog. Above all, keep characters from sounding alike
                                                           ABOUT THE AUTHORS

ROSEMARY AND LARRY MILD, cheerful partners in crime, coauthor mystery, suspense, and fantasy fiction. Their popular Hawaii novels, Cry Ohana and its sequel Honolulu Heat, vibrate with island color, local customs, and exquisite scenery. Also by the Milds: The Paco and Molly Murder Mysteries: Locks and Cream Cheese, Hot Grudge Sunday, and Boston Scream Pie. And the Dan and Rivka Sherman Mysteries: Death Goes Postal, Death Takes A Mistress, and Death Steals A Holy Book. Plus: Unto the Third Generation, A Novella of the Future, and three collections of wickedly entertaining mystery stories—Murder, Fantasy, and Weird Tales; The Misadventures of Slim O. Wittz, Soft-Boiled Detective; and Copper and Goldie, 13 Tails of Mystery and Suspense in Hawai‘i.


ROSEMARY, a graduate of Smith College and former assistant editor of Harper’s, also delves into her own nonfiction life. She published two memoirs: Love! Laugh! Panic! Life With My Mother and the acclaimed Miriam’s World—and Mine, for the beloved daughter they lost in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. On her lighter side, Rosemary also writes award-winning humorous essays, such as failing the test to get on Jeopardy; and working for a giant free-spending corporation on a sudden budget: “No new pencil unless you turn in the old stub.”  

LARRY, who was only called Lawrence when he’d done something wrong, graduated from American University in Information Systems Management. In 2019 he published his autobiography, No Place To Be But Here: My Life and Times, which traces his thirty-eight-year professional engineering career from its beginning as an electronics technician in the U.S. Navy, to a field engineer riding Navy ships, to a digital systems/instrument designer for major Government contractors in the signal analysis field, to where he rose to the most senior level of principal engineer when he retired in 1993.
Making use of his past creativity and problem-solving abilities, Larry naturally drifted into the realm of mystery writing, where he also claims to be more devious than his partner in crime and best love, Rosemary. So he conjures up their plots and writes the first drafts, leaving Rosemary to breathe life into their characters and sizzle into their scenes. A perfect marriage of their talents.

THE MILDS are active members of Sisters in Crime where Larry is a Mister in Crime; Mystery Writers of America; and Hawaii Fiction Writers. In 2013 they waved goodbye to Severna Park, Maryland and moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where they cherish quality time with their daughters and grandchildren. When Honolulu hosted Left Coast Crime in 2017, Rosemary and Larry were the program co-chairs for “Honolulu Havoc.”

Over a dozen worldwide trips to Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Great Britain, France, Italy, Israel, Egypt, and more have wormed their way into their amazing stories. In their limited spare time, they are active members of the Honolulu Jewish Film Festival committee, where Larry is the statistician and recordkeeper for their film ratings.  

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

PATRICK TURNS HIS PLAY INTO PAY by Shani & Patrick Muhammad


PATRICK TURNS HIS PLAY INTO PAY
Shani & Patrick Muhammad
* Children *



Title: PATRICK TURNS HIS PLAY INTO PAY
Author: Patrick Muhammad & Shani Muhammad
Publisher: 5 Star Publishing
Pages: 40
Genre: Children’s Book



Once great and powerful sorcerers, the Amasiti were hunted to the brink of extinction by the Hir and his followers. For four hundred years, their legacy faded from memory waiting for the hope of Aferi to be renewed…

In the Land of Yet

At the edge of the Forbidden Forest

A young woman lives alone.

Forced to fend for herself after the brutal murder of her family, Ameenah Yemini has made a life for herself as a master tanner and farmer, only venturing into the world to earn her living then return to the safety and seclusion of her home.

Until a chance encounter brings her work to the attention of the powerful Hir and her careful life begins to unravel.

Drawn to the hidden magic that lingers in everything she touches, the new Hir insists on having her for himself, using the people around her to force Ameenah into his grasp.

When she realizes that her greatest enemy may hold the key to a secret she thought lost to her forever, Ameenah is determined to reclaim her stolen past.  But, at what cost? As an ancient power waits to be unleashed, Ameenah’s choices will make the difference between awakening a new magic or delivering it into the hands of evil.

ORDER YOUR COPY:

 
 

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South Florida based janitor turned serial entrepreneur, Patrick Muhammad took what some would call an unconventional route to his newest venture.  “What I do now has evolved.  It truly took my passion and has turned it into a profession for me. I can see myself mentoring and sharing my story with young people easily for the next 20 years.  I love talking to young people and showing them, what entrepreneurship looks like. I love sharing my stories of how I came to be.  I didn’t just wake up one day and have all the answers.  My wife and I bumped our head A LOT.  I just want to say to them, look…here’s the blueprint.  Start now, don’t wait until you’re 30.  Passion has no age requirement, and has no limit on how many you can have. I started out as a janitor, then became a baker now I am into motivational speaking. They just have to have the passion and guidance. Anything is possible.”

“Patrick Turns His Play Into Pay” is the 1st book in a series of children’s books authored by husband and wife writing partners, Shani and Patrick Muhammad. The idea for the book was created one night while trying to explain the reason there was a gigantic, neon, pink and orange food-truck, now sitting in their front yard to their then 4 year-old Qadeer.   Patrick and his wife came up with the idea that they would write a keepsake item for all their children, detailing the road they took to becoming entrepreneurs.  The primary message is simple. By tapping into your passion early in life you can turn your playdays into paydays.  Once the book was published they both realized that the story could not only inspire their own children to entrepreneurship, but others as well. Shani figured out how to self-publish it and Patrick would take it to different youth groups in his community.   “I began shopping the book around to childcare centers and non-profits that served young people in the projects and the adults loved it.  “They really loved the idea that it was based on a true story and that the message was coming from a black male perspective. A story their children could relate to.  The images were brown like them and I just always got a positive response.  We took that book everywhere with us, and the response was this is a message that’s needed.  Children can’t be what they can’t see.”

Patrick currently lives in South Florida with his wife and three of his youngest five children.  He has a passion for planting the seed of entrepreneurship and carving out wealth building opportunities for his children’s generation. When he’s not writing books he’s on tour, speaking to groups of young people about basic principles of financial literacy and the benefits of early investing using cryptocurrency as a vehicle to establish future financial goals. When he’s not doing that…he’s on a creek with a fishing pole in his hand.

Shani Muhammad has been married to Patrick for 17 years now.  Together they have 5 children and 3 grandchildren.   Shani has spent the past 15 years in a classroom as a teacher. She too is a serial entrepreneur and has in the past owned a one-price shoe store, group homes and several online businesses. When she’s not working on the next children’s book in their series, she too enjoys researching and investing in crypto currencies and planning her family’s next “staycation.”

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM




 

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Interview with Historical/Action/Adventure Author Soren Paul Petrek



Soren Petrek is a practicing criminal trial attorney, admitted to the Minnesota Bar in 1991.  Married with two adult children, Soren continues to live and work in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Educated in the U.S., England and France Soren sat his O-level examinations at the Heathland School in Hounslow, London in 1981.  His undergraduate degree in Forestry is from the University of Minnesota, 1986.  His law degree is from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota 1991.

Soren’s novel, Cold Lonely Courage won Fade In Magazine’s 2009 Award for Fiction.  Fade In was voted the nation’s favorite movie magazine by the Washington Post and the L.A. Times in 2011 and 2012.

The French edition of Cold Lonely Courage, Courage was published January 2019, by Encre Rouge Editions, distributed by Hachette Livre in 60 countries.  Soren’s contemporary novel, Tim will be released along with the rest of the books in the Madeleine Toche series of historical thrillers.



The Allies and the Nazis are in a deadly race to develop the ultimate weapon while supersonic V-2 rockets rain down on London. Madeleine Toche and Berthold Hartmann, the German super assassin
who taught her to kill, search for the secret factory where Werner von Braun and his Gestapos masters use slave labor to build the weapons as the bodies of the innocent pile up. The Allied ground forces push towards Berlin while the German SS fight savagely for each inch of ground.

Finding the factory hidden beneath Mount Kohnstein, Hartmann contacts his old enemy, Winston Churchill and summons Madeleine to his side. While she moves to bring the mountain down on her enemies, Hartmann leads a daring escape from the dreaded Dora concentration camp to continue his revenge against the monsters who ruined his beloved Germany.

Together with the Russian Nachtlexen, the Night Witches, fearsome female pilots the race tightens as the United States and the Germans successfully carry out an atomic bomb test.

Germany installs an atom bomb in a V-2 pointed towards London, while the US delivers one to a forward base in the Pacific. The fate of the Second World War and the future of mankind hangs in the balance.

Welcome, Soren!  Can you tell us how you came up with the idea?
               
Soren:  Wolves at Our Door is a sequel to the anchor book of the Madeleine Toche Series, Cold Lonely Courage.  In Wolves, I wanted to directly address aspects of the Holocaust, the race for an atomic weapon and to feature Madeleine and her mentor in the field fighting together.

Can you tell us a little about the main characters?

Soren:  Madeleine Toche is a young French woman who found her way into the Resistance during WWII, helping Jewish children escape the Nazis.  Later, after she’s raped and has exacted revenge by killing the German SS officer who raped her, she escapes to England and finds her way into the British Special Operations Executive, Winston Churchill’s army of the shadows.

They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?

Soren:  I try to keep the readers hooked from the beginning.  I have hundreds of reader and editorial reviews that mention, I couldn’t put the book down.  What a joy it is to read that and know that those readers will remember my books fondly.

In Wolves, when we first meet Madeleine Toche her remarkable talents, skills and courage capture readers who then cheer for her, worry about her and most of all wonder what she’s going to do next.
  
Do you proofread and edit your work on your own or pay someone to do it for you?

Soren:  I use Grammarly and have a professional editor who works for major publishers both as a freelance editor and ghostwriter.  Her name is Hannah Eason.  I couldn’t have a better fit for the way I write.

Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

Soren:  The cover needs to draw attention but should have a clear connection to the storyline.  I like covers that are unique.

What did you want to become when you were a kid?

Soren:  A Marine Biologist.  I loved everything Jacques Cousteau.

What is one thing you’d like readers to know about you?

 Soren:  I want people to be happy.  If I can contribute to their joy of reading, then I’ve accomplished a great thing.

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

Soren:  I write for everyone.  My characters appeal to men and women alike.