A Picture In The Attic

I saw the light
Same picture without supernatural intervention

I do love a nice omen don’t you. Recently a family member has been serving in Afghanistan. My life has been an omen quest seeking reassurance that he will be OK. The garden magpies are tired of being counted and saluted. I have studied tea leaves and cloud patterns. I have been opening books and selecting random words. Then there are the patterns of blowing leaves, not to mention songs on the radio. Not that I’m superstitious or influenced by these things of course. The fact is that all the omens were good and the lad has made it home for Christmas. On his last day there I turned on the TV by chance to see the movie Apollo 13 playing. It was the scene where Marilyn Lovell lost her ring down the plughole. Surely this was a post-modern reflexive omen with the message that things can come good even if there is a disconcerting omen.

The importance of being Artist

So, imagine my agitation this morning when a cosmic collision of omens broke my sense of post-Christmas stupor. I was in the lounge. I had moved a painting to an unusual place in order to rearrange the room. As I reached out to the bookshelf to get down my new 2015 copy of the “Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook”. I saw a shaft of light fall on the painting as if it were a sun. The edge of a window pane was refracting the light and focusing it. I noticed that the book I wanted was on top of the works of Oscar Wilde, containing of course “A Portrait Of Dorian Gray”, in which a hidden painting reveals the true life of a man. This was omen OMG overload. I was trying to decide if 2014 was to be the end of my commercially invisible writing career. 2015 could be a scribble free zone with a proper paying job punctuated by meaningful three for the price of two experiences in Walmart. Was the cosmos sending me a sign? Should there be a third “Passion Patrol” title where the girl cop solves the case with supernatural assistance? She leaves her police equipment unattended while she cavorts in abandoned lust with her mysterious enigmatic lover. Later she opens her official notebook to find the writing of a phantom hand has provided a key to a major crime. Only thing is…… it hasn’t happened yet!

The picture is by Dorset artist Graham Towler and is called Dorset Hill Fort.

Emma Thinx: Will we know it’s the future when we get there?










FALLEN FOR #ROCK – get a BUZZ on the #Beach this #summer with Nicky Wells new #Romance plus #Giveaway #SWAG

Today I would like to introduce you to a guest author and her brand new racy romance, please give a big hand to the charismatic writer and radio star…. 


Uber-Rock-Chick Nicky Wells.

Born in Germany, Nicky moved to the United Kingdom in 1993 and currently lives in Lincoln with her husband and their two boys. Nicky loves listening to rock music, dancing, and eating lobsters. When she’s not writing, she’s a wife, mother, occasional knitter, and regular contributor at Siren 107.3 FM with her own monthly show. Rock on!

Nicky’s brand new ‘Rock Star Romance’ Fallen For Rock has just been published, my review is below and here’s the blurb:

‘A thrilling and delicious story of love and self-discovery woven around a broken romance that will make you turn page after page and cheer to the end.’

Love, life, loyalties. Nothing stays the same when Emily gets drawn into the world of rock.

Glossy and sophisticated professional high-flyer Emily has no time for nonsense such as the rock music her ex-boyfriend Nate adored so much. Yet when she unexpectedly comes into possession of VIP tickets—access all areas—for new rock band phenomenon, MonX, she can’t resist the temptation.

The fateful gig turns into more than one night, and Emily finds herself strangely drawn to this new and unfamiliar glittery world. However, only weeks later, MonX and her own universe fall apart with devastating consequences for all. When MonX lead singer Mike appeals for her help, she reluctantly embraces a new opportunity. But she soon discovers that while she may be a rock chick after all, a groupie she is not… Or is she?

Just exactly where do her loyalties lie? And what direction will her life take now that she’s left behind everything she treasured?

Warning! Fallen For Rock contains some explicit content and strong language that may not be suitable for readers under eighteen years of age.


My Review for Fallen For Rock

This is a sexy book. Putting sex in a story is easy. Making it sexy is talent. When a buttoned up ambitious girl who’s already made it in her own world tumbles into the wild world of rock, her buttons quickly unravel. Without giving away the story, Emily manages to fall for two men and get away with it. In the meantime she indulges in the ultimate fantasy of stepping out of her old stable privileged life. It’s not supposed to be for ever but everything is for ever when the beasts of lust and love break free. There are prices to be paid and choices to be made. She has the most fantastic sex of her life and loses all her previous status. Some would say this was a fair exchange but she doesn’t take it lying down and fights back. This is hard core rock star romance but also an uplifting story of a woman finding her true self through whatever life throws at her.  Another top read from Nicky Wells.


Find a copy here:


Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
 Amazon.de
Amazon.ca
Amazon.au


Fallen for Rock SWAG Giveaway!


To celebrate the launch of Fallen for Rock and to spread some joy, Nicky is kindly giving away the following items:

One Large Signed Poster of “Fallen for Rock
Three Sets of Signed “Fallen for Rock” Swag (Postcards and Bookmarks)
Three Sets of Signed “Fallen for Rock SWAG SPECIAL” including 2 bookmarks, 2 postcards and 2 guitar picks
Five Sets of Signed “Fallen for Rock” Guitar Picks (two picks per set)
One Set of “The Complete Nicky Wells Swag” (signed): Bookmarks and postcards for Sophie’s Turn, Sophie’s Run, Sophie’s Encore, Spirits of Christmas and Fallen for Rock
One Audio CD: Bon Jovi “Greatest Hits” (2010)

One Amazon Gift Certificate for £5/$7 or equivalent



About Nicky Wells: Romance that Rocks Your World!


Ultimate rock chick author Nicky Wells writes romance with rock stars—because there’s no better romantic hero than a golden-voiced bad boy with a secret soft heart and a magical stage presence!

Nicky’s books offer glitzy, glamorous romance with rock stars—imagine Bridget Jones ROCKS Notting Hill! If you’ve ever had a crush on any kind of celebrity, you’ll connect with Nicky’s heroes and their leading ladies.



Did you know? There’s a single out now by Nicky’s fictional rock band Tuscq come to life! “Love Me Better” is available for download from Amazon, iTunesand many other places. 

Blogger Book Fair – @BarbaraBillig Guest Post – The Nuclear Catastrophe #BBF

Today as part of the Blogger Book Fair I am hosting the author Barbara Billig…

THE NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE, a fiction novel of survival (3rd edition) A new FICTION NOVEL for EVERYONE – written for your entertainment & to raise nuclear awareness.

 THE NUCLEAR CATASTROPHE is set in Southern California and deals with characters caught in a disaster that they thought could NEVER happen. Ben, head of Whitewater Nuclear Power Plant & his pregnant wife Sara live in San Mirado, near the ocean. One fateful day the unexpected happens…..Ben and Sara, the plant workers, the people living in San Mirado and those in adjacent cities all have to make decisions as to what to do, where to go. Their choices have both good and bad consequences.

#1A NewBookCoverImage2This fictional story brings home the reality of what would or could happen. History has shown us time after time that……what can go wrong….will go wrong. What would YOU do? Your answers may be different after reading this novel.

Read how these characters faced difficult choices – and decide what you would have done – or will do.

This book is available at Amazon Worldwide as an ebook (Kindle version) or in paperback. Kindle books can be downloaded to The Kindle or to a PC or Tablet, Notebook, or Smartphone.

Visit Amazon.com to download a free Kindle app that allows this book to be read on a PC, Tablet, Notebook, or Smartphone.

 This fiction novel is meant to entertain and to educate. Very little has been written on this subject that is not a deep non-fiction book. And now that we have experienced the nuclear disasters of Fukushima and Chernobyl we know how dangerous these power plants can be.

As of 2011 there were 442 nuclear power plants operating or under construction in the world. The United States has 104. Whether it is a terrorist dirty bomb or a nuclear melt down – we should know what is happening and be prepared. I hope you will take the time to read this fictional story.

50% of the proceeds from the sale of the E book in 2013 are being donated to a charity to support the forgotten victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.   Download from Amazon

What some of the readers have said: 

“I enjoyed this book because it could happen. I think anyone living in a state with a nuclear reactor exists should read this.”

“A frightening tale of survival. You never really think about the events that take place after you have been stripped of normal day to day resources. No police, hospitals, you are your own 911 and now have to protect yourself against the world.” 

“A worthy read! This is a book whose vivid, thought-provoking images have stayed with me even months after reading it! It helped me to better understand the potential repercussions of a nuclear disaster.”

Barbara Griffin Billig Thanks You!


Barbara Griffin Billig Thanks You For Your Interest!

Read an excerpt now:http://bit.ly/pY8HxX 
Available also as THE DISQUIET SURVIVORS of The Nuclear Catastrophe in Paperback
Thanks for visiting Barbara!

 – I am visiting Barbara’s blog today as well as others in the Blogger Book Fair over the next few days:



22nd July    Caitlyn Nicholas http://www.caitlynnicholas.blogspot.com
                   Jamie Campbell http://jamiecampbell.com.au/blog/
23rd July     Emily Tippets http://www.emtippetts.com/search/label/Blog
                   Penelope Reece http://penelopereece.blogspot.co.uk/
24th July     Leslie R. Wright http://thebasementlevelfive.blogspot.co.uk/
25th July     Aria Glazki http://ariaglazki.blogspot.co.uk/ 
                   Barbara Billig http://billigreadersandwriters.wordpress.com/
26th July     Don Wooldridge http://www.donwooldridge.com

Three Sentence Seduction by @EMTippetts for Someone Else’s Fairytale at the Blogger Book Fair #BBF

Welcome to guest blogger  E.M. Tippetts for the Blogger Book Fair.  Come and tempt us with a Three sentence seduction from your book…


A character:
Jason Vanderholt, the Hollywood A-lister:  “I’d always assumed that his blue eyes were airbrushed, but no, they really were that shade of dreamboat blue lined with thick, dark lashes.”

A location:
The view from Sandia Tram: “The path below shrank to the width of a thread, and another plane wreck lay half hidden in the jagged rock.”
Favourite ending sentence:
Said by a police officer to my main character, Chloe Winters: “Had nightmares about that incident for years, but you look great.”

SOMEONE ELSE’S FAIRYTALE – available worldwide on Amazon

About E.M. Tippetts

Emily Mah Tippetts writes romance as E.M. Tippetts and science fiction and fantasy as Emily Mah. She is a former attorney with degrees in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University and business law from UCLA. These days she lives in New Mexico – the place where she grew up – with her family.

She also designs book covers and formats paperbacks and ebooks for her company E.M. Tippetts Book Designs.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks Emily! 

E.M. Tippetts was my guest today as part of the Blogger Book Fair.  I am guest posting on her blog today too,  which you can find in the list below:  the places I am visiting in my travels round the Interglobe for this event.


22nd July    Caitlyn Nicholas http://www.caitlynnicholas.blogspot.com
                   Jamie Campbell http://jamiecampbell.com.au/blog/
23rd July     Emily Tippets http://www.emtippetts.com/search/label/Blog
                   Penelope Reece http://penelopereece.blogspot.co.uk/
24th July     Leslie R. Wright http://thebasementlevelfive.blogspot.co.uk/
25th July     Aria Glazki http://ariaglazki.blogspot.co.uk/ 
                   Barbara Billig http://www.thenuclearcatastrophe.blogspot.com/
26th July     Don Wooldridge http://www.donwooldridge.com

Computer genius and hacker on the run, banking collapse and vanishing funds. Real life or fiction? @caitlynnicholas #BBF

Today my guest from the Blogger Book Fair is Caitlyn Nicholas with details about her forthcoming book PURSUIT, which is published by Momentum Books and comes out on the 1st August this summer.


Blurb
Legendary hacker, Dimity Pond, is on the run from the law.  
Her landlord’s sold her home, her money has disappeared along with her two-timing husband, a cyber-terrorist named Nemesis is forcing her to wreak havoc with a nasty virus and she’s developing a vile migraine.
Six years ago, Nemesis framed Dimity for the collapse of one of Europe’s biggest banks. The money was never found, and the bank’s failure caused untold damage to its customers. She’s been living under the radar ever since. The only way she can clear her name and live a normal life is to uncover Nemesis’s identity, but he’s always one step ahead.
Since Lord Richard Summerhayes left the Special Forces he’s built the best disaster-recovery network in the world, known as The Bunker. Banks, militaries, airports and other major systems around the world rely on him as the last unshakeable digital fortress in the face of disaster. Richard has been keeping an eye on his neighbor who has a dubious hacking past. He doesn’t like hackers, and when someone nukes his network with an intriguing new virus he knows exactly who to blame. But when he confronts her, he gets a whole lot more than he bargained for.

When Nemesis commits an unthinkable act of terrorism, the last hope is an encrypted file that only Dimity can crack. Will Nemesis manipulate Dimity into helping him wipe out the world’s biggest financial center? Or can Richard and Dimity take Nemesis down once and for all?

Excerpt from Pursuit

My name is Susan Kiffler.” The woman had a cultured English accent that perfectly matched her outfit. 

Kiffler? Dimity’s heart stopped.

So?”

The woman scrabbled around in her gigantic mauve handbag. 

This is a photo of me and my husband, Jake Kiffler, on our wedding day.” She held out a picture with a hand that shook. Not just trembling, but shaking, like an online gamer at the end of a forty-eight hour session, down to his last quart of caffeinated beverage.

Dimity took the photo from the trembling hand and stared at it, trying to make out what it meant. A stunned, sledgehammered feeling made it hard to concentrate. Thoughts skittered out of her grasp and fragmented, like the smashed mug.

One thing was certain.

Jake was the groom who smiled at her from the photo.

He said it was a disaster, that his first marriage only lasted a few months.” Dimity lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. 

Jake knew her secrets. He’d helped her create a vague sort of life. Hiding. Isolated. 

Jake Kiffler and I have been married for eleven years.” The woman pulled out a piece of paper and waved it at Dimity. It was a wedding certificate. “We’re not divorced. He’s still my husband.” She pointed to his name on the paper, then put it carefully away.

Get away from my house.” Dimity reached forward and flicked the photograph back into the gaping bag. “Go away.”

Susan grabbed her wrist. “He’s disappeared. We’ve got two children.”


Author bio

Caitlyn Nicholas began writing in 2005. Exhausted, pregnant and coping with a demanding toddler, she decided the time was right to embark on a writing career.

To her family’s eternal startlement she is now the author of five novels and a short story.

Her debut novel – and the first manuscript she had ever written – Running Scared, was published in 2007. This was followed by Secret Intentions in 2009, The Danger Game in 2012 and, Drive Me To Distraction, also in 2012. Her next novel, Pursuit, will be out in August 2013.

Author Links

You can find me online at: http://www.caitlynnicholas.com

Buy links



Thanks for coming to visit and best of luck with your book launch Caitlyn – it sounds like an intriguing read! 


Caitlyn was visiting from the Blogger Book Fair – I will be posting at her blog today and at other blogging locations between the 22nd-26th July (see links below)




22nd July    Caitlyn Nicholas http://www.caitlynnicholas.blogspot.com
                   Jamie Campbell http://jamiecampbell.com.au/blog/
23rd July     Emily Tippets http://www.emtippetts.com/search/label/Blog
                   Penelope Reece http://penelopereece.blogspot.co.uk/
24th July     Leslie R. Wright http://thebasementlevelfive.blogspot.co.uk/
25th July     Aria Glazki http://ariaglazki.blogspot.co.uk/ 
                   Barbara Billig http://www.thenuclearcatastrophe.blogspot.com/
26th July     Don Wooldridge http://www.donwooldridge.com

Limp? You Can Stick That.

Novelist on location exposes her crutch

If you poke my dear companion in literature, Oscar Sparrow, he will usually refer you to the Vagrancy Act of 1824. As a cop in modern London, this piece of legislation was never out of his tool box. So it was when he picked me up from the hospital following my leg operation. He immediately advised that the exposure of wounds with intent to obtain pity was an offence for which I could be arrested.


The lovers cavort in this fine setting in my latest Romance


Since absolutely nobody wants to know about surgical procedures, I have attacked my work. And what incredible fun I’ve had! I’ve been writing and researching. Yes, please note tax man, I’ve been out there sucking up the ambiance of all kinds of novelist stuff.  Stately homes, country cottages and long haired cattle. Can a novelist claim for dung cleaning bills? Well, at least it prepared me for the one star Amazon review circus. 

And now for a plug. Next week sees the release of my Love In A Hopeless Place collection. There are five stories. Many novels can come down to ten thousand words. Most of mine should have been reduced to zero.  This collection is my last bow/curtsy/grovel at the shrine of brine. These are serious stories about the life I’ve lived and seen up close. It’s all a bit gritty but how joyfully that salt stings in the wound. I know it’s not real fiction mainstream/vampire/sado-masochistic/werewolf fashion photographer stuff – but I’ve done it now and I’m free. 

Romance is a joy when you come up for air. I’ve been out there and at it. Do any of you fellow scribes need to go to locations to feel the heat? I sure do. That is why I’ve written so much real life contemporary stuff. How I admire folks who can “feel” English Regency minuet dancing and werewolf/vampire/alien identity angst. 


Next up is the Blogger Book Fair. This is a five day event where all manner of authors advertise their art on each other’s blogs. There are prizes of all sizes. Fun and games and books books books. I will be hosting ten authors. Surprises are certain……


Emma Thinx:  Fame – what the unloved call love.











Night Time Post Card from Saint Savinien

I’m still here in my beloved Saint Savinien Sur Charente. I know that beyond my time horizon lurks the cold darkness of the British winter. The swallows almost hovered in my face today as I walked up the narrow road past the castle. A journey lies ahead for them and now they must risk and gorge to put in the calories that will sustain their fragile lives on their pitiless migration south. I do know profoundly that all for my huff and puff, one of their lives values no less than mine and I have lived and gorged for so long.


I am posting a few pictures of the town at night. The Mayor, Monsieur Godineau, has pushed through a massive project to turn the town into something of a unique spectacle. I always have an admiration for folks who can do this kind of thing. Take a look and judge for yourselves.

As a writer, I guess that the thing I admire most about writing is a book that makes me forget about writing. I have just finished reading “Rebels On the Mountain” by Jack Durish. It is a ripping yarn about adventures during the Cuban revolution, a love story, a deeply educational piece of history and beautifully written and researched. To save repeating myself, here is my full Amazon review.

I have no hesitation at giving this book five stars. It is one of those stories that gives you a fix of everything. Having been born too late to be aware of the Cuban Revolution and all that followed it, I found this book to be educational and fascinating. Clearly the narrative owes a lot to careful research and also the military experience of the author. Beyond history, there is the fleshing out of historical figures and of course a part for Ernest Hemingway. In amongst all of this is a strong love story of Nick and Lucia set against the background of the period and confronting racial attitudes of the time. As I reached the last words of the book and I began to think of the review, I realised that I had hardly noticed that I had been reading and had not paused to take note of the style. The book romps along and reads itself as it goes. Whether it is an adventure, romance, history or everything combined, it was a joy to read.

Here are the links:



Emma thinx: Labour bears fruit, but not always the juice.