CELTICLADY'S REVIEWS

27 September 2016

@aweyken @SagesBlogTours As Wings Unfurl By Arthur M. Doweyko Guest Post!

Why We Stop Thinking

by Arthur M. Doweyko

1 Sep 2016

Why science fiction will be forever a genre that draws the creative spirit to its bosom — Do you remember how awesome the world was?

The mysterious and unending blue sky.

The first snow.

The ocean, waves and sand.

Then you began school.

You were taught how everything worked, more or less. You discovered that people die and nothing lasts forever. If it was a religious school, you were taught about God and your place in the world. You were educated so that you could find a job. You found a job, and were further taught how to behave in the workplace, and what was expected of you. Most of you raised a family and focused on children, and their education. Then you looked forward to retirement

All this time, from the eager student to the sage retiree, you have been distracted. From what?

From thinking.

The wonder that is existence should have been foremost on your mind. What is this place? Why are we here? How did we come to be? All great questions, but have accepted that they defy answering. We let them brush past, leaving but a slight trace across our conscious mind. We don't want to be bothered. There are more important things, like getting food on the table and a roof over our heads.

Who wants to keep thinking about such imponderables? It seems a fool's distraction. Leave it to the philosophers, those deep-thinkers who wander the halls of academia. Or, perhaps some of us have spent some time in the abyss, and have decided on the Albert Camus exit — Just don't think about it. Like Sisyphus pushing a ball of mud up a hill, and watching as it rolls down the other side, busy yourself with menial tasks, and you will be happier.

That conclusion presupposes that we cannot arrive at any meaningful answers. The universe will forever remain a mystery beyond what our little brains could ever comprehend. Are you sure of that?

Science has expanded our views from the dawn of humanity to the present. From inventing the wheel we're now splitting atoms and subatomic particles and learning a bit about the structure of existence itself. We have found that matter magically shows up out of nowhere, that separate particles can act as one, that the vast majority of the universe is made up of something we can't see. We can ask some pretty neat questions now … like why did matter take the form of atoms after the so-called Big Bang. Atoms have the peculiar ability to associate and make more complex structures…without which we would never exist. What the heck is matter, anyway? Giving it names is a Sisyphus copout.

One more thought: We have been expected to arise from the moment of the Big Bang.

As Wings Unfurl

By Arthur M. Doweyko

Genre: Science Fiction

Applegate Bogdanski returns from Vietnam with a missing leg, a Purple Heart, and an addiction to morphine. He stumbles through each day, looking forward to nothing and hoping it will arrive soon. When he attempts to thwart a crime, he is knocked unconscious and wakes up to discover that people are once again calling him a hero, though he feels undeserving of the praise.

Apple returns to work and meets Angela, a mysterious woman who claims to be his guardian. Immediately, he feels a connection to her, which morphs into an attraction. But he soon discovers that Angela is much more than she seems.

Apple and Angela are swept up in a conspiracy that stretches through time and space. Together, they must fight to save everything they hold dear from an alien race bent on destroying humanity.

Author Bio

After retiring in 2009, Arthur M. Doweyko took up writing fiction. His novel Algorithm garnered a 2010 Royal Palm Literary Award. He has also published a number of short stories, many of which have been selected as Finalists in the Royal Palm Literary Award contest, and two Honorable Mentions in the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest.

Arthur was awarded the 2008 Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award for his contribution to the discovery of Sprycel, a novel anti-cancer drug successfully brought to the marketplace in 2009. He has authored over one hundred publications (papers, abstracts, patents, book chapters) and has been an invited lecturer in a number of drug-discovery and computational venues.

Arthur lives in Florida with the love of his life, Lidia. When he’s not writing, he’s happily wandering the beaches.

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/@aweyken

Website: http://www.arthurmdoweyko.com/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2c4vWlv

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30236739-as-wings-unfurl

Katharina Luther: Nun. Rebel. Wife. by Anne Boileu Book Spotlight!

Katharina Luther: Nun. Rebel. Wife.

I did not find Katharina von Bora, she found me. I was in my final year of a BSc degree course at Anglia University in Essex. For my Dissertation I wanted to write about conservation in the former East Germany (this was 1992, not long after the fall of the Berlin Wall.) I won a travel award from the estate agents Strutt and Parker, and travelled to Saxony and Brandenburg with my husband, Charles Clarke. For the title I chose: Agriculture, Land Management and Conservation in the New Lands of Germany following Unification.

Before we went I arranged several meetings with farmers, officials, planners and naturalists; we visited an open-cast lignite mine, two nature reserves, two carp farms and a huge dairy unit. People we met were reserved at first but opened up when they realised we were British and not West Germans.

While staying in Wittenberg we visited the Black Cloister, Luther’s former monastery, which became their home. We found there a small exhibition about Katharina von Bora, who married Martin Luther. I was surprised because although I had learnt in school about Luther’s notorious 95 theses and the subsequent Diet of Worms (ha ha!) nobody had ever mentioned his wife. But there she was: a fine figure of a woman with a strong, intelligent face, portrayed in three different versions by the famous painter Lucas Cranach the Elder. We saw, among other things, one of her dresses, a pair of shoes, some stockings, a little hour book, and a lavish ring, which had been a gift from the King of Denmark. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more about this woman. I then discovered that she is a well-known figure in the German consciousness, whereas in England her story is scarcely known.

So a little seed was sown in my mind – this would be something to re-visit and write about when I have more time, I thought. But life took over: work, family, responsibilities. Then, in 1999 disaster struck: my beloved husband Charles fell ill and died, much too young. I was thrown into grief and confusion.

Then I resolved to write that novel. I travelled back to Saxony on my own and visited Erfurt, Weimar, Eisenach and the Wartburg Castle; Bautzen and Wittenberg. I cycled beside the Elbe and talked to local people. I stayed two nights in Luther’s old Monastery. Along the way I picked up a lot of German books on the Reformation, Luther, his colleagues and Katharina. (It’s worth remembering that this was still before the internet.) Without my knowledge of German I could never have researched this story.

Having gleaned the facts, the bare bones, of her life, I set about putting the flesh on those bones. What was life like for women at that time, particularly fugitive nuns who must adapt to secular life at a time of social, political and religious upheaval? The printing press and cheap paper had ushered in a new Information Age. Common folk were learning to read and becoming empowered. Even more seditious, thanks to Luther they were reading the New Testament in their own mother tongue!

From a feminist standpoint, why is it that an historical point of change such as the Reformation in Europe is inevitably told with reference to the deeds and agency of Men? While the men sit around the table discussing religion, theology and politics, writing learned books and making history happen, the woman make sure food and beer is on the table; they bear children and care for them; they manage the livestock, keep the household in good order, and see that enough provender for humans and domestic animals is preserved and put by for the long dark winter months. In other words, women keep the show on the road, but men get all the credit!

So I wish to cast light on the life of a courageous woman living in “interesting times”, as we are doing now, in the 21st century. Katharina von Bora was brave enough to defy the Church, break free from her convent, withstand the hostility and suspicion of men at that time. Above all she had the temerity to tackle head on that misogynist bully, a giant of a man, an inspired theologian, a poet, who was to change the course of history in Europe. 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of that Reformation. This is the story, told by Katharina Luther, who was there.

Katharina Luther: Nun, Rebel, Wife

On 31st October 1517, Martin Luther pinned ninety-five theses on the Castle Church door, Wittenberg, criticizing the Church of Rome; they were printed and published by Lucas Cranach and caused a storm. Nine young nuns, intoxicated by Luther's subversive writings, became restless and longed to leave their convent. On Good Friday 1523 a haulier smuggled them out hidden in empty herring barrels. Five of them settled in Wittenberg, the very eye of the storm, and one of them - Katharina von Bora - scandalised the world by marrying the revolutionary former monk. Following a near miscarriage, she is confined to her bed to await the birth of their first child; during this time, she sets down her own story. Against a backdrop of 16th Century Europe this vivid account of Katharina von Bora's early life brings to the spotlight this spirited and courageous woman.

Purchase from Amazon UK -

About the author: Anne Boileau (also known as Polly Clarke) lives in Essex. She studied German in Munich and worked as interpreter and translator before turning to language-teaching in England. She also holds a degree in Conservation and Land Management from Anglia University and has written and given talks on various aspects of conservation. Now she shares, writes and enjoys poetry; her work has appeared in a number of anthologies and magazines; she has also won some awards, including First Prize with Grey Hen Press, 2016. She translates modern German poetry into English with Camden Mews Translators and was Chair of Suffolk Poetry Society from 2011 to 2014.

@tawdra Days of You and Me by Tawdra Kandle Release Blitz with Giveaway!

Days of You and Me by Tawdra Kandle

Series: Keeping Score Book 3 Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance Publication Date: September 27, 2016

BUY NOW

Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Google

Once upon a time, not that long ago, I had just about everything I ever wanted. I was a star football player at one of the best colleges in the country, and I had the girl I d always loved by my side. The promise of a future most guys can only dream about was close enough to touch. But if there s anything I've learned, it s that life is unpredictable. One twist can change it all, and suddenly, I m alone. Even football, the one constant in all the insanity, somehow isn t enough anymore, because without her, everything else is empty. Meaningless. I've got one shot left. One more chance to win her heart. We re not kids now, and I know that being good enough for Quinn isn t some game I can fake my way through. She s more than the prize; she s my reason for living. The world only makes sense when we re together. And this time, I m going to do whatever it takes to give us our happy ending."

HEART OF THE KING

Khirro's Journey Book 3
by Bruce Blake

Don't Forget the Parsley

By Marie Claire Lim Moore

Genre: Memoir

Marie Claire Lim Moore builds on her first memoir, Don’t Forget the Soap, offering more entertaining stories about her family in this follow up. Like her first book, Don’t Forget the Parsley is a collection of anecdotes from different points in Claire’s life: stories from her second-generation immigrant childhood in Vancouver and New York City mix with recent expat experiences in Singapore and Hong Kong where she balances multiple roles as wife and mother, corporate executive and author. Her positively Filipino parents continue to have a big influence on her whether it comes to managing family and career, meeting heads of state and world leaders or simply making new friends. From stray observations (everything is funnier at church) and midnight anxieties (if Jessica Simpson gets to go to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, why shouldn’t I?) to life mantras (don’t let perfection hold you back) and litmus tests (would you serve drinks at my mother’s art show?), Claire’s warm and honest storytelling will resonate with readers and leave them smiling.

About the Author

Marie Claire Lim Moore is Filipina-Canadian-American banker, author and speaker. Her first book, Don’t Forget the Soap (And Other Reminders from My Fabulous Filipina Mother), became an Amazon.com best seller and was featured by GMA Network as one of the best books of 2013. After spending the early part of her childhood in Vancouver, Claire moved to New York City and attended the United Nations International School. She went on to study at Yale, climb the corporate ladder at Citi and travel around the world. She met her husband, Alex, while working in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and they married in Manila, Philippines shortly before moving to Singapore and most recently Hong Kong. Now Mom to Carlos, Isabel and Sofia, Claire also manages the Global Client business for Citi in Asia. Claire is passionate about promoting career-family balance through her talks as well as her writing. She is regularly ranked among leaders in the Asian and Filipino-American professional community and her experiences have been documented in The New York Times, USA Today, Smart Parenting and People Asia. In 2014, she received the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World Award™ (Global FWN100™) that recognizes Filipina women who are influencing the face of leadership in the global workplace.

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dontforgetthesoap
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarieClaireLM

Publisher: http://bit.ly/2cQoIjJ

On Amazon: http://amzn.to/2cLicsB

On Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2drULIP

On B&N: http://bit.ly/2d8RY6K

New Releases / Free & Bargain Books!!

For Pre-orders post - PRE-ORDER / genre / title /author

For New Releases post - NEW / genre / title / author

For Free Books post - FREE / genre / title / author / end date

For Bargain Books post - SALE / price / genre / title / author / end date
(Strictly no Erotica please. Steamy romance is fine but watch those covers people, incase any underage child is viewing it!)

Here is this weeks awesome selection!

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Come back and check out the new selection every week x

AUTUMN ALLURE Pine Point Book #4 by Allie Boniface

In Cluster of Lies, the follow-up to the highly-awarded Blind Thrust, mysterious deaths are taking place in the Rocky Mountain region outside Denver, Colorado. Joe Higheagle—a full-blooded Cheyenne environmental geologist who has recently become an overnight celebrity for bringing down a billionaire corporate polluter—is hired to investigate Dakota Ranch, where four boys have recently died from a rare form of brain cancer, and Silverado Knolls, a glitzy soon-to-be-built development. He quickly finds himself entangled in an environmental cancer cluster investigation as well as a murderous conspiracy in which friend and foe are indistinguishable and a series of seemingly impenetrable roadblocks are thrown in his path.

While the police work to uncover if foul play could have led to the suspicious death of a heavy-equipment company owner, the unconventional Higheagle works in parallel to solve the mystery of what is killing the young boys at Dakota Ranch. His goal is to find out who is ultimately responsible for the cancer cluster and bring them to justice. His search leads him to Hayden Prescott—the suave multi-millionaire developer of Dakota Ranch and Silverado Knolls as well as a leading Denver citizen.

Will Higheagle and the police discover the truth behind the cancer cluster and the death of the business owner? Is Hayden Prescott to blame, or could it be one of Higheagle’s own clients or even a shadowy third party? Most importantly, will justice at Dakota Ranch and Silverado Knolls be served before more death and treachery comes to the Rockies?

Goodreads

Amazon

Samuel Marquis is a bestselling, award-winning suspense author. An Expert Witness in groundwater contaminant hydrology, he works by day as a VP-Hydrogeologist with an environmental firm in Boulder, CO, and by night as a spinner of suspense yarns. His first two thrillers, The Slush Pile Brigade and Blind Thrust, were both #1 Denver Post bestsellers, and his first three novels received national book award recognition. The Slush Pile Brigade was an award-winning finalist in the mystery category of the Beverly Hills Book Awards. Blind Thrust was the winner of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the suspense category, an award-winning suspense finalist of both the USA Best Book Awards and Beverly Hills Book Awards, and a Foreword Reviews' Book of the Year award finalist (thriller & suspense). His third novel, The Coalition, was the winner of the Beverly Hills Book Awards for a political thriller.

Former Colorado Governor Roy Romer said, "Blind Thrust kept me up until 1 a.m. two nights in a row. I could not put it down. An intriguing mystery that intertwined geology, fracking, and places in Colorado that I know well. Great fun." James Patterson compared The Coalition to The Day After Tomorrow, the classic thriller by Allan Folsom. Donald Maass, author of Writing 21st Century Fiction and two novels, compared The Coalition to The Day of the Jackal. Other book reviewers have compared Bodyguard of Deception to the spy novels of John le Carré, Daniel Silva, Ken Follett, and Alan Furst. The first thriller in Mr. Marquis's World War Two Trilogy, Bodyguard of Deception is currently a Top 10 Best World War II Spy Book and Top 10 Fiction Book Set During WWII on Goodreads along with such WWII thrillers as Follett's Eye of the Needle and The Key to Rebecca, Daniel Silva's The Unlikely Spy, and Ben Mcintyre's Agent Zigzag and Double Cross.

Mr. Marquis lives in Colorado with his wife and three children and he plays competitive lacrosse, hikes, and skis on weekends when he isn't writing.

http://www.samuelmarquisbooks.com

https://twitter.com/Sammarquisbooks

Giveaway!

Giveaway is for one book, to be sent by publicist to winner!

Starts 9/27, ends on 11/27. US entrants only

Leave a comment below telling me why you would like a copy of this book!

Also must leave an email address so I can contact you should you win!

After Paris by Renny DeGroot Blog Tour!

After Paris by Renny deGroot

Publication Date: July 8, 2016
Paperback & eBook; 364 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

From Shortlisted Author of the 2015 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, Renny deGroot comes a new Historical Fiction.

Liesbeth Zwart forges her identity with courage and aptitude while nursing in France during WW1. As Liesbeth Bos, she feels that identity melting away; the skills she needed as a nurse in Paris are of little use to her as a wife and mother in post-war Netherlands.

As she grapples to adjust to her new reality, she is confronted with a shocking discovery that sends her fleeing with her young daughter to start a new life in Canada. The New World forces Liesbeth to reassess her own life and beliefs, but will it be enough to save her fractured family?

Amazon (Kindle) | Amazon (Paperback) | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

About the Author

Renny deGroot is a first generation Canadian of Dutch parents. She is a published poet, song lyricist and novelist. Her debut novel, Family Business, was shortlisted in the Literary Fiction category, for the 2015 Emerging Writer Prize. She studied English Literature at Trent University.

Her strong Dutch roots continue to influence her while the love of her Canadian homeland with its beauty and freedom, flavors all that she does.

Renny lives in rural Ontario, Canada with her Great Pyrenees and Chocolate Lab.

For more information, please visit Renny deGroot’s website. You can also find her on Facebook.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, September 19
Interview at Nerd in New York
Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, September 20
Guest Post at The Silver Dagger Scriptorium

Wednesday, September 21
Review at Curling up by the Fire
Guest Post at What Is That Book About

Thursday, September 22
Review at A Book Drunkard

Friday, September 23
Review at Books, Dreams, Life

Saturday, September 24
Review at Queen of All She Reads

Monday, September 26
Guest Post by The Writing Desk

Tuesday, September 27
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews
Spotlight at Just One More Chapter

Wednesday, September 28
Spotlight at The Book Tree

Thursday, September 29
Review at Book Nerd

Friday, September 30
Review at Back Porchervations
Interview at Library Educated

Giveaway

To enter the After Paris Blog Tour Giveaway please enter via the Gleam form below.

– 3 winners will receive a copy of Family Business by Renny deGroot (2015 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Shortlist)

– 3 winners will receive a copy of the CD Macushla by renown Irish Tenor, Jimmy Carton (features songs from the era in which After Paris takes place)

Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on September 30th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open internationally.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

26 September 2016

@P_Creeden Chronicles of Steele: Raven Free Ebook Blast!

This is the complete Steampunk Fantasy novel – all four parts of the serial in one volume! Human life has value. The poor living in the gutter is as valuable as the rich living in a manor. The scoundrel is no less valuable than the saint. Because of this, every life a reaper takes must be redeemed. Raven has lived by this first tenet since she was trained by her father to become a reaper. But since his death, she’s been spending years redeeming the lives she’s taken. By her count, she’s even and it’s time for that life to end. If she settles down and becomes a wife, she might just feel human again. But on the way to the life she thinks she wants, the baron of New Haven asks her to complete a task which she cannot ignore… Just when Raven decides to give up on her life as an assassin, she’s pulled right back in.

Amazon

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Pauline Creeden

Pauline Creeden is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy. In her fiction, she creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long.

Follow Pauline Creeden: Website | Facebook | Twitter

#MoBPromos To Dance Again and Esmeralda and the Second Suitor by Hebby Roman Promo Tour!

TO DANCE AGAIN & ESMERALDA AND THE SECOND-HAND SUITOR by Hebby Roman

Inside the Book:

Title: The Sweetheart Kiss

Author: Cheryl Ann Smith

Publisher: Lyrical Shine

Genre: Mystery/Suspense

Format: Ecopy

Jess Lucas works hard at the all-female PI firm Brash & Brazen, and after a brush with death, she’s determined to play hard too—preferably with a certain detective on the Ann Arbor police force . . .

Jess was stuck at a frenemy’s wedding, playing bridesmaid in a mustard-yellow monstrosity, when chaos erupted. First the bride’s ex tried to stop the wedding. Then someone really put a damper on the big day by sending a bullet through a stained glass window and into one of the groomsmen. At least her ugly dress came in handy to stop the bleeding . . .

While the poor guy is rushed to the ER, Jess gets grilled by a gorgeous cop who’s not thrilled to learn she’s part PI and part pit bull. But he has to admit she’s highly observant . . . and he observes that she’s pretty hot, too.

The thing is, Jess was walking up the same aisle as the victim, and Sam suspects she was the real target. It’s more than professional duty that makes him want to protect her—if he doesn’t arrest her first for interfering in his investigation . . .

MEET THE AUTHOR

A fan of romance fiction since the dark ages, author Cheryl Ann Smith loves to throw her heroines into danger, just to see what they’ll do. Her dream of publication came true in 2011 when the first in her historical romance series came out with Berkley Sensation. And starting on September 13th 2016, she’ll launch an exciting a new contemporary romance series with Kensington’s Lyrical Press. These books will mix her crazy sense of humor with the adventures of a trio of female private investigators, who are the kick-ass heroines Cheryl has always wanted to be.

While growing up, Cheryl never dreamed of being a writer. Then one afternoon she got a crazy idea and decided to write her own book. It took over five years, a marriage, and the births of her children to finish the manuscript. It was a hundred pages too long and thin on plot, but she took immense satisfaction in her accomplishment.

Naively, she was sure that book would sell to great fanfare. Agents and editors were less than enthusiastic. Thankfully, she stumbled onto Romance Writers of America soon after and that book got filed away forever. Since then her plots have improved and her page counts and writing time per book have been cut considerably. Cheryl lives in Michigan with her family, two cats and a very hairy dog. She enjoys outdoor adventures and traveling, when she has the time, and hopes to make her first visits to Europe and Australia in the very near future.

Visit her at http://www.cherylannsmith.com