More poetry from D. Avery during #ExcerptWeek! 😉
Day: August 5, 2017
“The Half-Drowned King: A Novel” by Linnea Hartsuyker
“The Half-Drowned King: A Novel“
Genre: Historical Fiction/Norse & Viking
Release Date: August 1, 2017
An exhilarating saga of the Vikings that conjures a brutal, superstitious, and thrilling ninth-century world and the birth of a kingdom—the debut installment in a historical literary trilogy that combines the bold imagination and sweeping narrative power of Game of Thrones, Vikings, and Outlander.
Centuries ago, in a blood-soaked land ruled by legendary gods and warring men, a prophecy foretold of a high king who would come to reign over all of the north. . . .
Ragnvald Eysteinsson, the son and grandson of kings, grew up believing that he would one day take his dead father’s place as chief of his family’s lands. But, sailing home from a raiding trip to Ireland, the young warrior is betrayed and left for dead by men in the pay of his greedy stepfather, Olaf. Rescued by a fisherman, Ragnvald is determined to have revenge for his stepfather’s betrayal, claim his birthright and the woman he loves, and rescue his beloved sister Svanhild. Opportunity may lie with Harald of Vestfold, the strong young Norse warrior rumored to be the prophesied king. Ragnvald pledges his sword to King Harald, a choice that will hold enormous consequence in the years to come.
While Ragnvald’s duty is to fight—and even die—for his honor, Svanhild must make an advantageous marriage, though her adventurous spirit yearns to see the world. Her stepfather, Olaf, has arranged a husband for her—a hard old man she neither loves nor desires. When the chance to escape Olaf’s cruelty comes at the hands of her brother’s arch rival, the shrewd young woman is forced to make a heartbreaking choice: family or freedom.
Set in a mystical and violent world defined by honor, loyalty, deceit, passion, and courage, The Half-Drowned King is an electrifying adventure that breathtakingly illuminates the Viking world and the birth of Scandinavia.
Linnea Hartsuyker can trace her ancestry back to Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and a major character in THE HALF-DROWNED KING, her first novel. She grew up in the middle of the woods outside Ithaca, New York, and studied Engineering at Cornell University. After a decade of working at internet startups, and writing in her spare time, she attended NYU and received an MFA in Creative Writing. She lives in New York City with her husband.
#ExcerptWeek – The Curse of Time by Marjorie Mallon
#ExcerptWeek continues with a coming of age/Fantasy!
“Pushing Brilliance (Kyle Achilles Book 1)” by Tim Tigner
#FREE at time of posting!
“Pushing Brilliance (Kyle Achilles Book 1)“
Genre: Espionage/War & Military
Release: July 14, 2016
He didn’t do it.
He really didn’t.
But proving it,
will be a killer.
PUSHING BRILLIANCE: Imagine Harrison Ford’s THE FUGITIVE meets Tom Clancy’s HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
“The best book I’ve read, bar none.” –Ed Wiseman
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Framed for murder and on the run, former Olympic bi-athlete Kyle Achilles is also in the crosshairs of assassins’ guns. Why? He has no idea. He’s fighting blind against two master strategists and one extraordinary invention–known as Brillyanc.
Achilles’ only ally is the other prime suspect, a beautiful Russian mathematician who is either the best or worst person to ever enter his life. Katya was engaged to Achilles’ brother — before he died.
Chasing clues while dodging bullets, Achilles and Katya race around the globe, uncovering a conspiracy conceived in Moscow, born in Silicon Valley, and destined to demolish both the White House and the Kremlin. Along the way a lost soul finds purpose, a broken heart confronts forbidden love, and America gains a new hero.
Packed with heart-stopping surprises, paced by razor-sharp plotting, and populated with richly rendered characters, Pushing Brilliance will leave you breathless and longing for more.
________________________________________
International Bestselling Author Tim Tigner began his career in Soviet Counterintelligence with the US Army Special Forces, the Green Berets. That was back in the Cold War days when “We learned Russian so you didn’t have to,” something he did at the Presidio of Monterey alongside Recon Marines and Navy SEALs.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall, Tim switched from espionage to arbitrage. Armed with a Wharton MBA rather than a Colt M16, he moved to Moscow in the midst of Perestroika. There, he led prominent multinational medical companies, worked with cosmonauts on the MIR Space Station (from Earth, alas), chaired the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, and helped write Russia’s first law on health care.
Moving to Brussels during the formation of the EU, Tim ran Europe, Middle East, and Africa for a Johnson & Johnson company and traveled like a character in a Robert Ludlum novel. He eventually landed in Silicon Valley, where he launched new medical technologies as a startup CEO.
In his free time, Tim has climbed the peaks of Mount Olympus, hang glided from the cliffs of Rio de Janeiro, and ballooned over Belgium. He earned scuba certification in Turkey, learned to ski in Slovenia, and ran the Serengeti with a Maasai warrior. He acted on stage in Portugal, taught negotiations in Germany, and chaired a health care conference in Holland. Tim studied psychology in France, radiology in England, and philosophy in Greece. He has enjoyed ballet at the Bolshoi, the opera on Lake Como, and the symphony in Vienna. He’s been a marathoner, paratrooper, triathlete, and yogi.
Intent on combining his creativity with his experience, Tim began writing thrillers in 1996 from an apartment overlooking Moscow’s Gorky Park. Twenty years later, his passion for creative writing continues to grow every day. His home office now overlooks a vineyard in Northern California, where he lives with his wife Elena and their two daughters.
Tim grew up in the Midwest and graduated from Hanover College with a BA in Philosophy and Mathematics. After military service and work as a financial analyst and foreign-exchange trader, he earned an MBA in Finance and an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton and Lauder schools.
Thank you for taking the time to read about the author. Tim is most grateful for his loyal fans and loves to correspond with readers like you. You are welcome to reach him directly at tim@timtigner.com.
#ExcerptWeek – Tipping Point by TerryTyler
Check out the excerpt of Terry Tyler’s soon-to-be released post-apocalyptic series, “Tipping Point” on The Write Stuff during #ExcerptWeek!
“My People, the Amish: The True Story of an Amish Father and Son” by Joe Keim
#FREE at time of posting!
“My People, the Amish: The True Story of an Amish Father and Son“
Genre: Nonfiction/Biography & Memoirs
Release Date: June 1, 2017
In My People, the Amish, Joe Keim paints a detailed picture of life behind the bonnets and buggies. More than a biography, this is an honest look at the heart-warming traditions that mingle with the deep-rooted legalism of the Amish community in Ashland, Ohio.
Born, raised, and baptized in an Old Order Amish church, from childhood Joe Keim was taught that if he didn’t follow the twenty-two-page ordinance letter that governed his community, there was no way he could get to heaven. What started as a path of rebellion led Joe and his wife Esther to a caring group of Englisher Christians who would love them like family and show them how to live out their new found faith in Jesus Christ.
Nine months after their traditional Amish wedding, Joe and Esther left family and friends forever to live openly for Christ, and endured shunning and excommunication with bold faith. Since then, the Lord has brought many former Amish people to Joe and Esther for help. Because of their passion for the Amish people and with the support of fellow believers, they have brought biblical truth to thousands of Amish through the ministry they founded in 2000, Mission to Amish People (MAP).
About the Author
Joe Keim was born and raised in Ashland, Ohio. He married Esther Keim in 1986 and they left the Old Order Amish community in 1987. They have two grown children, Jonathan and Rachel. In 2001, Joe left his job as a tool and die maker for full-time ministry. The Keims travel all over the US, speaking in churches, as well as to hospital staff, to law enforcement, and at colleges, helping people understand how to communicate with the Amish.
Through personal witness, home Bible studies, home prayer meetings, the Bible Club, The Amish Voice, and the Audio Ministry, the Keims want to see every Amish person hear the clear message of salvation. MAP offers counseling and protection to those who are victims of sexual, mental, and physical abuse. The ministry also provides help with needs such as getting a GED, obtaining a birth certificate, and finding a job. Through the Bible Club alone, they have seen more than 2,500 Amish make commitments for Christ.
Fibro Warriors, Sufferers, or Spoonies: What do we Call Ourselves?
Labels are not preferred at all by many, but in our current society, they are unavoidable. This thought ignited a conversation about the different titles that Fibromyalgia sufferers (see, I just did it) like to be called: Fibro warriors, sufferers, patients, spoonies, etc. This is an attempt to address this question, and to give our readers a chance to weigh in on what they feel is an appropriate term to represent the community.
List of Titles
Fibro Sufferers
Any time that I am writing about Fibromyalgia pain or symptoms, it is easy to toss this title around because it is obvious that many people who live with this disorder are in fact suffering. Every human suffers mentally, physically, or emotionally at some point in their life, but Fibro folks are forced to experience more of it than most. The Webster’s dictionary definitions of “suffer” are:
transitive verb
1 a: to submit to or be forced to endure: suffer martyrdom :
b : to feel keenly : labor under: suffer thirst
2: undergo, experience
3: to put up with especially as inevitable or unavoidable
4: to allow especially by reason of indifference: the eagle suffers little birds to sing — William Shakespeare
intransitive verb
1: to endure death, pain, or distress
2: to sustain loss or damage
3: to be subject to disability or handicap
Most of these definitions seem to apply to Fibromyalgia. It is something that you are forced to endure, labor under, and are subject to, and it is unavoidable, or you would not be suffering from it. However, there is an underlying sense of victimization that is associated with the word suffering. People at different stages of the process of this condition may feel like a victim, while others will want to distance themselves from that status. I know, as someone who has dealt with chronic pain for many years, I may go through the spectrum from victim to warrior in the course of an afternoon.
Fibro Warriors
This one is the complete opposite end of the spectrum from suffering. This term is all empowerment. Fibro warriors are not content to be a victim, but fights with all of their being against this condition. This is an important tool in the mindset of any person who lives with chronic pain, but for some, Fibro warriors seems too militant to identify with all of the time. I think that in the course of the disorder, everyone will eventually come to feel like Fibro warriors, but it may not be the best term for everyone every day.
Spoonies
This is one of my personal favorites. The idea behind this idea is Spoon Theory that basically says that people who deal with certain disorders have to ration their energy use throughout the day. They measure energy “units” in spoons, hence the name. This idea has been a part of my life long before I had ever heard of Spoon Theory. When using this term in writing, not all Fibro people actually identify with (or indeed know about) Spoon Theory so it can be problematic. Also, Spoony can apply to many conditions aside from Fibro so some may not feel it is an adequate term to classify Fibro people.
Fibro Community
This is a term that has a lot of positive associated with it. One thing that we strive to foster at FibromyalgiaTreating.com is a place for this community to communicate, learn, and grow. The fibro community is a strongly united group, and it would be far harder without that community around you to listen, empathize, and help each other. The only drawback to using community is that it is not a great term for individual identification. However, firo community will always be a part of Fibromyalgia Treating.
Fibro Patients
If you have ever been to the doctor for Fibro related reasons, then you are a fibro patient. This term seems very clinical, and implies that you are in treatment. This may be true, but that is only one aspect of a person dealing with fibro.
That seems to be the issue with many of these titles. They do not adequately describe the entirety of the experience of a person with fibro, but only one of several aspects of living with the disorder.
Is there a term that covers everything? If so, what is it? How do you prefer to be addressed, and what do you identify yourself as? Please comment below and let us know your thoughts.
The preceding article is from FibromyalgiaTreating.com and is posted here for sharing purposes only. For addtional information, please visit their website.
“Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation” by Questlove
99¢ at time of posting!
“Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation“
Genre: Music/Humor & Entertainment/History & Criticism
Release Date: December 3, 2013
From Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of the award-winning hip-hop group the Roots, comes this vibrant book commemorating the legacy of Soul Train—the cultural phenomenon that launched the careers of artists such as Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Whitney Houston, Lenny Kravitz, LL Cool J, and Aretha Franklin. Questlove reveals the remarkable story of the captivating program, and his text is paired with more than 350 photographs of the show’s most memorable episodes and the larger-than-life characters who defined it: the great host Don Cornelius, the extraordinary musicians, and the people who lived the phenomenon from the dance floor. Gladys Knight contributed a foreword to this incredible volume. Nick Cannon contributed the preface.
“How the Warrior Claimed” by Nicole René #CoverReveal
Title: How The Warrior Claimed
Author: Nicole René
Genre: Dark Historical Romance
Release Date: October 8, 2017
Cover Designer: Marisa Shor, Cover Me Darling
Hosted by: Buoni Amici Press, LLC.
HE was the chief’s cousin…
Namoriee knew the only way to protect herself against the blond-haired gentle giant was to stay away. The way her heart pounded and her insides fluttered when he was near could only lead to disaster.
Two years ago he made a promise to her that she never thought he intended to keep.
She was wrong.
SHE was the handmaiden…
Tyronian wanted Namoriee even when he knew he couldn’t have her. The need to possess her was so deep, it took every ounce of mental and physical strength he had to keep the promise he made to her that stormy night.
He promised he would wait until she was older.
He promised her two years.
But now… time’s up.
Namoriee wants nothing to do with him but he has no plans on stopping until she’s in his bed, and he’s in her heart.
She will be his. Forever.
Whether she likes it or not.
Nicole René is a San Diego native living with her grumpy kitty, Sebastian and her crazy cute Boxer, Walter.
When she’s not busy creating sexy alpha males, you can most likely find her with her nose stuck in a book reading OTHER sexy alpha males, kicking back with her friends and family, at the movies, or further fueling her “The Little Mermaid” and “The Lord of the Rings” obsession.
She is a certified klutz, often tripping over invisible objects, dropping things like they were hot, and playing ping-pong with the walls. She has lots of tattoos, loves to eat sushi—but hates eating cooked fish, hates going to the beach (even though she’s surrounded by them), and is still waiting for her Hogwarts letter to come in the mail.
How The Warrior Fell (Falling Warriors Series, Book 1)
Nesie's Place 