tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71317641712220147162024-02-06T22:17:01.927-05:00Novel NotionsThoughts on writing, promotion and book reviewsDS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.comBlogger159125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-36426385653363892772014-10-02T20:55:00.000-04:002014-10-02T20:55:05.293-04:00I'm Moving!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For a while now, I've been trying to maintain 2 blogs, working on my current WIP - all while holding down a full time job. Needless to say, it ain't working... So, I've decided to focus on my new blog/website. Novel Notions is going on hiatus. I hope you'll stop by and visit me at my new home:<a href="http://dsmcknight.com/">http://dsmcknight.com/</a> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsiXbyCIF-4nQuwSw-E10TQ-n4uDGCQQmXD-TjHBjBewTrOMfARrg2Fv7d48tT6P8C3ZIl7kPJeIjopxqFDqWZzhaGCLuKiQYQwddLdzSlHhCY2gpmXCx0kI_ujoO7c0vVma45GhMZIQ/s1600/moving.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxsiXbyCIF-4nQuwSw-E10TQ-n4uDGCQQmXD-TjHBjBewTrOMfARrg2Fv7d48tT6P8C3ZIl7kPJeIjopxqFDqWZzhaGCLuKiQYQwddLdzSlHhCY2gpmXCx0kI_ujoO7c0vVma45GhMZIQ/s1600/moving.png" height="164" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thanks for all your past support! I appreciate the time you spent reading/commenting on my posts! And I look forward to connecting with you again!</span><br />
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<br />DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-56516156230278964192014-09-25T23:52:00.000-04:002014-09-26T00:03:23.919-04:00Review of Eternal Mixture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk7GIVjcyHfjivXkG3qmIcw1V2WjyGTk5TdpymRA8bOWBCnOuFh0FyrKTJ4NP3B5SVlhyXhLgiqo_dh0QDexL49BHyzerHysOb2LSDog4vxuBRnSLsGPX5Nk4TPZZSvJRxH7Uhct8b6qc/s1600/eBook+Cover-WaterMarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk7GIVjcyHfjivXkG3qmIcw1V2WjyGTk5TdpymRA8bOWBCnOuFh0FyrKTJ4NP3B5SVlhyXhLgiqo_dh0QDexL49BHyzerHysOb2LSDog4vxuBRnSLsGPX5Nk4TPZZSvJRxH7Uhct8b6qc/s1600/eBook+Cover-WaterMarked.jpg" height="320" width="193" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: #fffdf8; color: #292929; font-size: x-small; line-height: 23.399999618530273px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Author's Blurb:</u></b> If you had the chance to start your life over, would you take it? If you were told you would live for eternity, would you embrace it? If a stranger told you he was your soul mate, would you believe it?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fffdf8; color: #292929; font-size: x-small; line-height: 23.399999618530273px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Raina Richmond has played it safe her entire life. She has never broken the rules. That is, until Brent Alexander walked straight into her life, causing havoc. Turning her world upside down.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fffdf8; color: #292929; font-size: x-small; line-height: 23.399999618530273px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brent is the new kid in town. He is every girl’s fantasy: adorable, charming, chiseled, and the typical boy Raina usually steers clear of. But there is just something about him she can’t seem to resist. Safe is no longer an option for her. For him, she breaks all the rules.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 23.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What she doesn’t realize is that he holds the key to her past, present, <i>and</i> future. Once he reveals the reasons behind their irrevocable connection, she will unlock the answers to all of her questions, and her life as she knows it will never </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal; line-height: 23.399999618530273px;">be the same again.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 23.399999618530273px;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">What I thought:</u> While Eternal Mixture is a Young Adult Paranormal novel, there aren't any blood sucking vampires or werewolves in this tale. Shevaun Delucia delivers a fresh take on eternal love. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 23.399999618530273px;">Raina is the main character in this story. I felt the author did a great job capturing the conflicting emotions that Raina is experiencing. Brent is the love interest - He's exactly what females dream of - tough and tender with a great big dose of sexy. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 23.399999618530273px;">The romance in this story is a bit steamier than some Young Adult fiction. However, it doesn't cross the line. Adult readers might enjoy a little sizzle and teens will relate to the raging hormones. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 23.399999618530273px;">There are a few grammatical errors and a couple of story inconsistancies but I enjoyed the author's writing style. I thought the story flowed at a nice pace - nothing too rushed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 23.399999618530273px;">**I received a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.**</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">BUY LINKS</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Amazon: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Mixture-Series-Volume/dp/0615828035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408147727&sr=8-1&keywords=eternal+mixture" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Mixture-Series-Volume/dp/0615828035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408147727&sr=8-1&keywords=eternal+mixture</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Barnes and Noble: </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eternal-mixture-shevaun-delucia/1117194877?ean=9780615828039" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eternal-mixture-shevaun-delucia/1117194877?ean=9780615828039</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">iTunes: </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eternal-mixture/id839709955?mt=11" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eternal-mixture/id839709955?mt=11</span></a></div>
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DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-5386821391523757302014-09-25T12:53:00.000-04:002014-09-25T12:53:33.843-04:00ETERNAL MIXTURE BLOG TOUR<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Thanks for stopping by and participating in the Eternal Mixture Tour!</div>
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The author, Shevaun Delucia, is sharing an excerpt of her exciting new novel.</div>
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/a/myaddictionisreading.com/fall-2014/shevaun-delucia" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Young Adult Paranormal Romance</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.5;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: small;">Date Published: <span style="font-weight: normal;">11/1/2013</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: small;">If you had the chance to start your life over, would you take it? If you were told you would live for eternity, would you embrace it? If a stranger told you he was your soul mate, would you believe it?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: small;">Raina Richmond has played it safe her entire life. She has never broken the rules. That is, until Brent Alexander walked straight into her life, causing havoc. Turning her world upside down.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: small;">Brent is the new kid in town. He is every girl’s fantasy: adorable, charming, chiseled, and the typical boy Raina usually steers clear of. But there is just something about him she can’t seem to resist. Safe is no longer an option for her. For him, she breaks all the rules.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: small;">What she doesn’t realize is that he holds the key to her past, present, <i>and</i> future. Once he reveals the reasons behind their irrevocable connection, she will unlock the answers to all of her questions, and her life as she knows it will never </span></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">be the same again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><u>EXCERPT</u></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKqEV1dTX3ijbuCbVN56pESW9GSNoMdFriZhToYH1Qow4LV4ksZuZiqxir80Hbl7HQxRAL0NpvQjbkZNmLrZ5-ct0JJtvGvaIYwRetN3dxwggE6vVx95tSNk-blP9SwXjAnVDGIbI6XY/s1600/eBook+Cover-WaterMarked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKqEV1dTX3ijbuCbVN56pESW9GSNoMdFriZhToYH1Qow4LV4ksZuZiqxir80Hbl7HQxRAL0NpvQjbkZNmLrZ5-ct0JJtvGvaIYwRetN3dxwggE6vVx95tSNk-blP9SwXjAnVDGIbI6XY/s1600/eBook+Cover-WaterMarked.jpg" height="320" width="193" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">He puts the picture down and turns to look at me, face
stern and serious, eyes full of hunger. I swallow, chest heaving, unable to
break his gaze. “Why do you look at me like this?” I whisper, eyes still locked
on his.</span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“I just feel this amazing, erotic
connection to you. I’ve never felt it before. I’ve met a million women
throughout my years, and none of them have come close to touching me the way
you do.”<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Brent…” My voice drifts off as he
slowly comes closer. His face is only inches from mine and our breathing is now
in sync. Just as our lips are about to touch, my bedroom door slams open.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Hey, Rain—” Bailey turns towards the
hall and then comes back in the room, obviously flabbergasted with what she
almost just witnessed. “Whoa!”<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Shit!” I say, jumping up from my bed
and rushing over to close my door.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“<i>So</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>you two, what is going on?” Bailey’s
eyes glare between Brent and I, mouth grinning from ear to ear. This is the
moment she was hoping for—to catch us in the act. She couldn’t stand the fact
that I was keeping Brent from her, and now she’s standing here gleaming with
satisfaction.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Bailey, this is Brent. Brent, this is
my friend Bailey,” I introduce them, taking a seat back on my bed, leaning my
head against my headboard.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Brent already moved to the chair at my
desk. “Hey, nice to meet you.”<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“And<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>very<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>nice to meet you, Brent,” Bailey
responds, still glowing.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Brent stands up, seeming
uncomfortable, and says goodbye to both of us. As soon as we hear the front
door close, Bailey immediately turns and faces me with accusing eyes.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“<i>What?</i>”<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“What do you mean, ‘What?’ Raina,
you’re my best friend, and you couldn’t even tell me?” Bailey asks angrily as
she gets off my bed and paces across my floor.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Bailey, there’s nothing to tell!” I
screech quietly.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>I grab my nightclothes out of my
dresser drawers and rip off my pants and shirt, strewing them on my floor.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Bullshit, Raina! Were you not just
here a minute ago when I walked in on you two?” Bailey shrieks in a whisper,
throwing her hands in the air.<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Fine. Yes, you walked in on us<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>almost</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>kissing. But that’s it! We are just
friends. You probably just saved me from making a huge mistake,” I admit. “By<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="aqj">tomorrow</span>, he’ll
probably realize it too.”<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Bailey takes a seat next to me on my
bed. “Raina, why can’t you see how beautiful you are? And I don’t just mean
physically. You’re a beautiful person inside<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>out. I wish you could just see
what the rest of us see. It’s obvious Brent sees it too.”<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #260a00; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;">Shevaun DeLucia</span></div>
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Shevaun DeLucia lives in upstate New York with her husband, four children, and two dogs. As a stay-at-home mom while her children were young, she fell in love with reading. She indulged in the small moments that took her away from the reality of her loud, overly rambunctious household, bringing her into a world of fantasy. When reading wasn’t enough to satisfy her, she turned to writing, determined to create the perfect ending of her own.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Website: </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://shevaundelucia.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b;">http://shevaundelucia.com/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Goodreads: </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7375844.Shevaun_Delucia" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7375844.Shevaun_Delucia</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Amazon: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Mixture-Series-Volume/dp/0615828035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408147727&sr=8-1&keywords=eternal+mixture" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Mixture-Series-Volume/dp/0615828035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408147727&sr=8-1&keywords=eternal+mixture</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Barnes and Noble: </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eternal-mixture-shevaun-delucia/1117194877?ean=9780615828039" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/eternal-mixture-shevaun-delucia/1117194877?ean=9780615828039</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">iTunes: </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eternal-mixture/id839709955?mt=11" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/eternal-mixture/id839709955?mt=11</span></a></div>
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DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-24054234550498421902014-09-06T06:00:00.000-04:002014-09-06T06:00:02.698-04:00Blog Tour: Origin by Emailia I Rutigliano<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/a/myaddictionisreading.com/fall-2014/emilia-i-rutigliano" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img src="http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh501/myreadingaddiction/new-290_zpsb09ef6e0.jpg" height="102" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Contemporary / Women's Fiction</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 1.5;">Date Published:<span style="font-weight: normal;">February 14, 2014</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPA-LOxUIlFZuuwcKBP0k447voHoEFeaRBWzjsd7Q8CKsxZJcRbYwp6H6Hcjcqne6DItqs8PGwYlpSmpfhdnmxNtfKmPxbeqtWfKMzktGFoqWN_g4ErYaTJ8xTneiJJQtVM13Xm5y9E0/s1600/ORIGIN+COVER+-+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEPA-LOxUIlFZuuwcKBP0k447voHoEFeaRBWzjsd7Q8CKsxZJcRbYwp6H6Hcjcqne6DItqs8PGwYlpSmpfhdnmxNtfKmPxbeqtWfKMzktGFoqWN_g4ErYaTJ8xTneiJJQtVM13Xm5y9E0/s1600/ORIGIN+COVER+-+Version+2.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Alexandra Kamin is everywoman. At 42, she has a loving family, terrific children, a great career with a superlative income, a gorgeous face with a terrific figure, and a loving boyfriend. Most impressive is that she is in complete control of every ambit of her life.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Where do you go when you are at the top?</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">ORIGIN takes you back to the beginning… the beginning of Alexandra’s life in America, the beginning of the truest of love affairs, and the beginning of an entrepreneurial life. Through a series of flashbacks and conversations, Alexandra explains every nuance that made this beautiful family a dynasty that you want to root for.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Schooling, work, child rearing, and family affairs are all under Alexandra’s Order are all accounted for as the years go by. GNO, love affairs and the truest of loyalties are best second time around.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Read an excerpt:</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“NIIIIICCCCEEEE!”
Alexandra bellowed stepping into the “apartment.” This was really
something.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“You’re impressed?” The
svelte blonde laughed, allowing Alexandra to walk through and take it all in.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“Had I known it would be like
this, I would have admitted myself into a psychiatric facility a long time
ago!” Alex was making conversation. Her mind was too busy assessing
the place.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">She was standing in a two-story
duplex. It was a “New” building, on the West side of New York City
overlooking the Hudson River. The building was entirely made of
glass. Inside the apartment, everything was appointed in tones and
textures of white. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“It’s not too late you
know.” The blonde answered, using exactly the same tone. “I have
friends who run sanatoria and “well-centers” in Connecticut … and in
California, by the surf. There’s one in Los Cabos too. They are all
luxurious. Plenty of fancy things and gardens and pool-sides. I
could make arrangements.”</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“I’m soooo in!” Alexandra
admitted. “Where do I sign up, Doc!? Do I lie on this
couch?” She asked, pointing toward a white, tufted, leather
couch. Alex was trying to analyze how someone was brilliant enough to
design it. It was definitely modern, but it still had enough “old
world” comfort that you could just lounge on it to read or watch TV. And
this leather... it was just... soft, and supple and inviting. “Wait did
we get a diagnosis on me already?”</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“Well sure, didn’t your friends
already decide that you are depressed and need to be cured? Why else
would you be seeing a psychiatrist?” The blonde asked, laughing.
She came into the sitting area, and sat down in one of the white lounge
chairs. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“Right.” Alex
agreed. She sat in the chair opposite her, although they were both facing
the outside. The Hudson River was playing with the sunlight and the water
was bouncing the rays in such a way that it looked like it was generating the
sparkles. “So, uhm... how do we do this?”</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“Cure you?” The blonde was
laughing, and Alex smirked at her, rolling her eyes. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“Relax. This is for you
Alexandra. There is no pattern. Want some water or iced tea or
something?”</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“Water would be great.”
Alexandra said, though her mind was more into photographing this room. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">The details were
extraordinary. The room was “albino”. That seemed to be its
strength. Someone specifically made it -- not devoid of color, really --
but purposefully white. It was rich in its whiteness. The walls, and
there were many, although, technically, the whole place was “open”, were of
different materials. Some walls were Venetian or marbleized stucco.
Some were pure Carrera marble, with just the veining showing through.
Some were sueded, and some had mother-of-pearl wall coverings. But
everything was white. Not cream... but white. And nothing was in
contrast with anything. The hard and soft surfaces all melded. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">The ceiling-to-floor windows had
no treatments. Large, ornate “boxes” that served as moldings (with
mother-of-pearl textures) obviously held shades that could be let down by means
of a remote control. There was one, enormous, Chihuly chandelier.
It was white, too. </span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: maroon;">“Do all psychiatrists’ offices
look like this?” Alexandra joked, sort of.</span><span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: maroon;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">“No, actually. I’m trying
a new experiment with you.” The good doctor said.</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 7pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 7.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">About the Author:</span></div>
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Emilia I. Rutigliano <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKK86PgP0-Z6Ztq_uoSPfS5yQf_W2sswxGQLjVOHN3N5IBgDH-9z9YW81Y5JhCbX4r3ZXbYoCBF3W7WL996-N1mCCpeKjwQprDxkXuxwjG6q04EHSlrq4RPOtsyahPs51VQOmQM2zOxBo/s1600/photo-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKK86PgP0-Z6Ztq_uoSPfS5yQf_W2sswxGQLjVOHN3N5IBgDH-9z9YW81Y5JhCbX4r3ZXbYoCBF3W7WL996-N1mCCpeKjwQprDxkXuxwjG6q04EHSlrq4RPOtsyahPs51VQOmQM2zOxBo/s1600/photo-3.jpg" height="149" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Emilia</span><span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-weight: normal;">I. Rutigliano is an attorney who writes about people that she finds interesting. Although her books are fiction, she weaves in a lot of the events of her own life, practice and travels. She lives in New York City with her husband and three precocious teenagers (who occasionally acknowledge her existence when the internet is malfunctioning). </span></span></span><br />
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</div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack" style="color: #861108;"></a>ALEXANDRA’S ORDER is Emilia’s second book series, and is geared toward readers who enjoy a full story about multi-dimensional characters. Because ORDER takes place in many locations with many different cultures, Emilia doesn’t write it unless she visits each location and meets the people who speak, think and act the same way as the characters in the book. It’s a tough life, but she perseveres…</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Connect with the author:</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Website: <a href="http://www.alexandrasorder.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b;">www.alexandrasorder.com</a></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/alexandrasorderseries" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b;">www.facebook.com/alexandrasorderseries</a></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">BUY LINKS</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Amazon: <a href="http://amzn.com/B00IBQ5FV4" rel="nofollow" style="color: #551a8b;">http://amzn.com/B00IBQ5FV4</a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<br />DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-84428365321880310622014-09-04T06:00:00.000-04:002014-09-04T06:00:02.294-04:00The Empress Chronicles' Release Day Blitz<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks for stopping by to celebrate the release of </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Empress Chronicles!
</span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-2168" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Blog-FacebookBanner.jpg" height="118" width="320" /></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Published by Diversion Books</em></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><em><br /></em></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N98RPAS?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00N98RPAS&linkCode=xm2&tag=wwwdiversio08-20" target="_blank">Purchase on Amazon</a></span></div>
<div align="center" style="line-height: 14.25pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=7W0jeRqnKFU&subid=&offerid=266972.1&type=10&tmpid=8432&RD_PARM1=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.barnesandnoble.com%252Fw%252Fthe-empress-contract-suzy-vitello%252F1120257212%253Fean%253D2940150310636%2526itm%253D1%2526usri%253Dsuzy%252Bvitello" target="_blank">Purchase
on Barnes & Noble</a><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-empress-chronicles/id905043819?mt=11">Purchase on iBooks</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-empress-chronicles" target="_blank">Purchase on Kobo</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj_bzLDWrYAb0dd68eXpuUmCnMx0I5T0JNfaR5ZTCRuW8a9iZop_bU1uFFm9fh4RZR0QNM2-f1h22beP1doJJ3QerV-HD7237FXYrzEUQY2zAUABwS9aakRo5CoACQ15CZbWTjIaorZU1HhTxmo3BYP4AVeDuPaFVZOaaiKMMmfErrZIfeBRse5TQuyy6IS-WGh=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" border="0" class="alignleft wp-image-2167" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/cover-678x1024.jpg" height="358" width="237" /></span></a></div>
<div align="center" style="line-height: 14.25pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #333333;">In this
dazzling first book in the EMPRESS CHRONICLES series by the author of THE
MOMENT BEFORE, one courageous girl seeks keys to the past to unlock the future…</span></em><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="line-height: 14.25pt; text-align: center;">
<em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When city girl Liz is banished to a
rural goat farm on the outskirts of Portland, the 15-year-old feels her life spiraling out of control. She can’t connect to her father or his young girlfriend, and past trauma adds to her sense of upheaval. The only person who seems to keep her sane is a troubled boy who is fighting his own demons. But all of this changes in one historical instant.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One-hundred fifty years earlier, Elisabeth of Bavaria has troubles of her own. Her childhood is coming to a crashing end, and her destiny is written in the form of a soothsaying locket that has the ability to predict true love. But evil is afoot in the form of a wicked enchantress who connives to wield the power of the locket for her own destructive ends.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">*</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When Liz finds a timeworn diary, and within it a locket, she discovers the secrets and desires of the young Bavarian princess who will one day grow up to be the legendary Empress of Austria. It is in the pages of the diary that these two heroines will meet, and it is through their interwoven story that Liz will discover she has the power to rewrite history—including her own…</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Readers of books like Rachel Harris’s MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY will love THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1967" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/add-to-goodreads-button31.png" height="43" width="132" /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">About The Author</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Suzy Vitello is a proud founding member of a critique group recently dubbed The <img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-1969 alignright" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/6524626.jpg" height="228" width="200" />Hottest Writing Group in Portland, and her short stories have won fellowships and prizes (including the Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Award, and an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Goodreads: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/suzyvitello" target="_blank">https://www.goodreads.com/suzyvitello</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">website: <a href="http://www.suzyvitello.com/" target="_blank">http://www.suzyvitello.com/</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SuzyVitelloBooks" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/SuzyVitelloBooks</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Twitter: @suzy_vitello</span></div>
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I was searching for flash fiction prompts, when I came across "Write a story in the voice of an old person." The idea intrigued me...</div>
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<br />
Because
She Loves Me</div>
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I open
the window, allowing a light breeze and the neighborhood noises to come inside. The curtains flutter, a horn sounds and I am
reminded of another time. Slowly, I make
my way around the bed, stopping when I reach my chair. </div>
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"There was a time when I was
just like our neighbors—always in a hurry, needing to be somewhere, trying to
make a dollar. Yep. But that was a long time ago. Back then, I thought I had it all figured
out. Work hard. Pay the bills. Take care of the family. It's what my father did so that's what I
did. Hell, it's what I taught our boy,
John, to do." </div>
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My easel is situated by Martha's
bed, across from the window, which offers a surprisingly wonderful view of a
dogwood tree. Picking up the paintbrush, I dip the fine bristles into a dab of
paint and smear it around on the pallet before gently adding the color to my
canvas. I pause long enough to look at
Martha, hoping that maybe I'd see a glimmer in her eyes. I don't.
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She was my high school sweetheart,
the first girl I ever kissed. As
faithful as the day is long, that's my Martha.
I think she deserved better than me.
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"Remember how we always talked
about going on that vacation? You wanted
to go to Paris and I wanted to see the pyramids…" I chuckle, patting
Martha's leg with my free hand. "I
should have taken you to Paris…"</div>
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I continue to dabble paint onto the
canvas. "I called John,
yesterday. But he wasn't home. Laura said something about him working
overtime. Said she'd have him call. Maybe she forgot to give him the message…"</div>
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I glance at Martha, her eyes have
become a window into the bleakness of Alzheimer's. And once again, I feel the loss of her companionship,
her quick wit, her constant support.
Tucking my hurt in a little box, I lock it away and focus on my
painting. "You know, Martha,
sitting here with you, painting and all—I reckon I have time to wonder what our
life would have been like if I had followed my dreams. Who knows?
We could have lived in Paris—me painting and you learning to cook French
cuisine... Who am I kidding? You probably would have taught the French a
thing or two about cooking!" I smile to myself. "You deserved Paris. Instead you got me…"</div>
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I remember how pretty Martha
looked, standing at the train station, waiting to welcome me home. It was thoughts of her that got me through
boot camp. It was thoughts of her that
accompanied me to Korea and it was thoughts of her that kept me going during my
time in that frozen hell. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Laying down my paintbrush, I turn
to Martha, lifting her soft, delicate hand to my lips. "I must be the luckiest man in the world,
having you for my wife. I don't know why
a girl like you would have ever wanted someone like me." </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0in;">
Clarity. I see it in her eyes. No matter how fleeting, I pray for these
moments. "Lo-ve you," her
voice croaks.</div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 0in;">
"Martha," I cry as the spark
fades away... And this is why she deserved
Paris—because she loves me.</div>
DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-86435488052230187472014-08-26T19:23:00.001-04:002014-08-26T19:23:19.812-04:00Crock Pot Comfort Food - Can It Get Any Better?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimisr0tKR0LxbFUz4Kf6w1CXUV7aPTX0bjZIJEoQ_YgaDHYY8npkdVgNyLXuJKgGQEQJwnlOrfTI30VwbgOiJ54YeD6nxkYyhK9STH76_KDBpPXD-INs9UsK9mdACMJZKS77mBEo895oU/s1600/steak.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimisr0tKR0LxbFUz4Kf6w1CXUV7aPTX0bjZIJEoQ_YgaDHYY8npkdVgNyLXuJKgGQEQJwnlOrfTI30VwbgOiJ54YeD6nxkYyhK9STH76_KDBpPXD-INs9UsK9mdACMJZKS77mBEo895oU/s1600/steak.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was on the hunt for a new crock pot friendly recipe and came across this one. My husband and sons loved it so I thought I'd share it with you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Found in a cookbook called Slow Cooker Recipes. It was submitted by Marge Dicton of Bartonsville, PA.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Easy Special Pot Roast</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10 3/4 oz. can Cheddar cheese soup</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10 3/4 oz. can golden mushroon soup</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10 3/4 oz. can French onion soup</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3-lb. beef chuck roast</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mix soups in a slow cooker; top with roast. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 - 9 hours, turning roast halfway through cooking time if possible. Makes 6 servings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">**The gravy is delicious on noodles, mashed potatoes or rice.**</span><br />
<br />DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-76092795246430535552014-08-23T22:26:00.000-04:002014-08-23T22:26:56.708-04:00The Coffee House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IuEOZSpDCU5BZn8tmhtE7hw5X07N-z3hh2r_duPKDdkYAB6CPgg4CtAMQnySrRajWu5pXhUUqYRhen6gBtf5GDLAb4lLTHfZB9AKsPrN9fFN9rPu3NMldL4reBLqhXlHrpybUd6-5ig/s1600/table.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7IuEOZSpDCU5BZn8tmhtE7hw5X07N-z3hh2r_duPKDdkYAB6CPgg4CtAMQnySrRajWu5pXhUUqYRhen6gBtf5GDLAb4lLTHfZB9AKsPrN9fFN9rPu3NMldL4reBLqhXlHrpybUd6-5ig/s1600/table.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love those pictures of Paris—you know, the ones with the
little tables outside of the bistro. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It
just looks so... European. And that probably explains my fascination with the
Coffee House.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's become my Saturday
morning ritual.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I sit at a little bistro
table, nibble on a croissant, sip my coffee and watch the town-folk.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's amazing really—the things a person can see. Just this morning, Bill (he looks like a
Bill to me) ordered a latte and flirted shamelessly with the barista. He leaned across the counter, lowered his
voice, and slid a five dollar tip underneath her fingers. The barista giggled, he laughed and I stifled
the urge to clear my throat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I walked to my favorite table and I noticed Bill was seated
close by. As was my custom, I decided to
invent a life for Bill. I imagined he
was a successful surgeon, who at any moment would receive an urgent call,
prompting him to abandon his morning coffee and hurry to the hospital. Of course, being a world renowned surgeon
left little time for a social life, which in turn, explained his attraction to
the young barista. Surrounded by such
intense pressure, pulling patients back from the brink of death—the barista's
youth must have been intoxicating…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Except that wasn't the truth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I watched as she approached Bill's table, pushing a
stroller. I couldn't hear what she said
as she bent down, placing a quick kiss on his check but Bill looked
resigned. Hmmm. Obviously, she is Bill's wife. I think I'll call her Natalie. Natalie could use a fashion pointer or
two—like the importance of brushing her hair.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I glance back at Bill.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gone is the flirt.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He's now deflated,
slumping in his chair, a hand on the stroller.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's sad really, the things you can learn by just watching the people
around you.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Very sad indeed.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I look at Bill and wonder if he wishes he was
a surgeon.</span></div>
DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-82917798824968198802014-08-17T23:21:00.001-04:002014-08-18T21:22:23.994-04:00The Importance of a Well Written Desciption<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8zTekcjLREdX0nTQui4n4k1vbL49QcmubboYFpdum-21M3hYgP27V1Mm3DbXqz_XLvkj1LukZwgJBa6Gh_Oj3Qfz_9RzW5Kcz5LyI96AsYr9Xv5gxJU92aUMVtGMRQvqdJygYgonlto/s1600/night.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8zTekcjLREdX0nTQui4n4k1vbL49QcmubboYFpdum-21M3hYgP27V1Mm3DbXqz_XLvkj1LukZwgJBa6Gh_Oj3Qfz_9RzW5Kcz5LyI96AsYr9Xv5gxJU92aUMVtGMRQvqdJygYgonlto/s1600/night.png" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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Descriptions are important - they help set the stage for pivotal events by connecting the reader to specific places and times. It is easy to fall back on generic representations. Example: The night was dark. The night was quiet. But living in a rural area, nothing is further from the truth. A summer night in the south is teaming with activity. </div>
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Sitting on my deck, I was amazed at how noisy silence can be. I was surrounding by a veritable symphony of sound: crickets chirping, frogs croaking, mosquitoes buzzing and dogs barking. Lightening bugs were darting near the wood line, flashing their bottoms, hoping to attract a mate. Bats were swooping overhead, their bodies looking like dark shadows against the waning light as they searched for dinner among a buffet of flying insects. Kit-Kat had sidled up beside me, stretched her body then rubbed against my leg before disappearing into the darkness. See what I mean? There's a lot going on out there in the dark...</div>
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Let's think about the air. Is it heavy with humidity? Or does it offer cooling relief from a hectic day? Is the wind a gentle breeze? Or do you hear it howling in the treetops? Maybe the wind isn't blowing at all... </div>
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How about the smell? Is the scent of honeysuckle hanging in the air? No? Maybe it's the smell of the steaks the neighbor is cooking, making your character dread the leftover pizza in the refrigerator or reminding him/her of how alone they feel...</div>
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By taking the time to immerse ourselves into our characters' experiences, our scenes will <i>feel </i>more authentic which will allow our readers to connect with our stories.</div>
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<br />DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-69282047306518181282014-08-17T00:58:00.000-04:002014-08-17T00:58:09.364-04:00A Crock Pot Can Be A Writer's Best Friend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRDjnDDmKzDzDZx3I5qGGN9upj1vLG_5zywrEbbxWIcPYlNbASnFHvSkIBpSVy1_80tP-rAwKCqkSAsikA52ATzaPpRn_m5kbC1XbR0vYttghrwtnSkbQ3nu0CaJEmcpCIIMUFUQAJ-I/s1600/chef.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRDjnDDmKzDzDZx3I5qGGN9upj1vLG_5zywrEbbxWIcPYlNbASnFHvSkIBpSVy1_80tP-rAwKCqkSAsikA52ATzaPpRn_m5kbC1XbR0vYttghrwtnSkbQ3nu0CaJEmcpCIIMUFUQAJ-I/s1600/chef.png" height="200" width="148" /></a></div>
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It's Sunday and that means we're one day away from Monday... That's kinda depressing... The work week begins again. If you're like me, your day is something similar to this: At work by 8:00. Off by 5:00. And then, you go to work again - but this time it's at home - laundry, dinner, dishes, kids... The time between 5:00 and lights out - goes by too fast - and there's not a lot of time left to write. So, I thought I'd share a Crock Pot Recipe that I found from Fix-It and Forget-It. Maybe it will help free up a little time for you to work on your story!<br />
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Chicken Cordon Bleu</div>
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4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves</div>
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1/2 lb. deli-sliced cooked ham</div>
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1/2 lb. baby Swiss cheese, sliced</div>
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10 3/4 can cream of chicken soup</div>
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1 oz. dry stuffing mix, prepared according to box direction</div>
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1. Layer all ingredients in the order they are listed into your slow cooker.</div>
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2. Cover and cook on Low 6-8 hours, or until chicken is tender but not dry.</div>
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Happy Eating! Happy Writing!</div>
DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-83009970048134923132014-08-15T22:26:00.000-04:002014-08-15T22:26:48.112-04:00Tomato, Tomahto - It's All In Your Perspective (What Makes a Female Character Strong/Weak)For the past couple of weeks, I have wrestled with the idea of this post. And as I type this, I'm still questioning myself.. But the thing is, it's been eating at me...<br />
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You see, I'm a forty-something woman. I was just a kid during the 1970's when women were fighting for equal rights. I remember the controversy, the anger, the demand for equality. And while I didn't have to protest, I am part of a generation that received the benefits of the movement. That being said, I've still experienced my fair share of narrowmindedness. For several years, my family owned a small business. As co-owner of a marina, it never ceased to amaze me that some of the salesmen would try to talk to my brother instead of me. To get the same respect, I had to "prove" my knowledge. It was nothing short of frustrating and demeaning. Being seen as an equal, being respected for my work - these are things that are important to me.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">At this point, let me clarify:</span></b> </span></div>
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: left;">The following isn't intended as an attack on the writer or the writer's work. I didn't read the novel. In fact, I don't even remember the author's name or the title of the book. I only read the little promotional blurb and it most definitely caught my attention as a well written blurb should. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: left;"><b>So, back to my post...</b></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">When I stumbled across a New Adult romance and found that the heroine was a cash strapped college graduate, who in her desperation, decides that she will become a rich man's play thing, I cringed. </span><span style="text-align: left;"> What was the point in getting an education, etc. if she was just going to lift her skirt. I mean, I guess she couldn't meet her "knight in shining armor" as she worked her second job. Nope. The college loan payments must have been atrocious - because prostituting herself was the solution. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are many women who have made this choice and are good with it. And as for the story, like I said, I didn't read it - and maybe the heroine had tried to find a second job, maybe she had resigned herself to eating Romen Noodles dinners... Obviously, the heroine was trying to be honest - I mean, she really wanted to make her payments... Maybe she should have decided that her credit was just going to have to suffer - at least until a better paying job came along... </span><span style="text-align: left;">But for me-when I read the blurb-I failed to see the romance and I certainly hated seeing a young woman portrayed in such a weak manner. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">It's Just a Story</span></b></div>
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I totally get that this story was a work of fiction and I'm sure there are readers who loved it. But with so many women and children being sexually exploited, portraying a "<i>pay for sex</i>" agreement as the beginning of a healthy relationship feels all sorts of wrong to me. Yeah, I know - It's just a story and I can lick the red right off a lollipop. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe It's Me</span></b></div>
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At some point, I wondered if maybe my feelings were due to my age? I sought the opinions of a younger crowd. I am the mother of three sons so I presented the scenario to them. They looked at me as if to say, <i>"Really?" </i> But being the good mother that I am, I didn't let them off the hook. Finally, one of them said, "Maybe her bills were really stressing her..." Another nodded in agreement. So then I asked, "Would you be good with dating someone who had made this decision?" They looked at me. The twenty-one year old said, "Look, just because I can maybe understand doesn't mean I agree... so no, I couldn't see myself dating her." My seventeen year old said - "If it was only the one time, then maybe... but that's just dating. I mean, it's not like I'd wife her up."<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Uptight?</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
By now, you might be thinking that I'm a bit uptight and definitely judgemental. You'd be wrong. At nineteen, I was a single mother so I know all about making hard choices. And maybe, that's why the premise of this story bothered me so much. Because in the real world, the decisions we make follow us and most of the time, women who choose to sell themselves, don't end up with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I was a single mother, working two jobs when I met my Marine. Twenty four years later, he's still got my back. <br />
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<b>Disclaimer:</b><br />
<br />
I realize that there are women who have found themselves between a rock and a hard place, with no where to turn. Their children need a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. While I have never found myself in this position, I recognize that some women have. Because of their circumstances, they may feel as though prostitution is their only option. I'm certainly not casting judgement on the decisions they have made.<br />
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<br />DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-84870039781108570902014-08-11T22:52:00.000-04:002014-08-11T22:52:25.326-04:00Review of Jack and the Fountain of Youth<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZS_meEODOVHzYPygWjnUsGKmqGqmuBXkBHpm1z6-vV_RyS0jYE2HE5K5bDLvx2j7auwzEdl6eKpU3pV6Sba1e9Y25DKkQxK9m4MYJDlFxGQQiSvV8idGibd0Bab8RuWEmLHh66Y70mEA/s1600/Jack+Cover+with+Border+Small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZS_meEODOVHzYPygWjnUsGKmqGqmuBXkBHpm1z6-vV_RyS0jYE2HE5K5bDLvx2j7auwzEdl6eKpU3pV6Sba1e9Y25DKkQxK9m4MYJDlFxGQQiSvV8idGibd0Bab8RuWEmLHh66Y70mEA/s1600/Jack+Cover+with+Border+Small.JPG" height="200" width="128" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Amazon's Book Description: </b> Jack Ponsi Dileonardo Thomas is eighteen years old. At least, that’s what he tells everyone. He doesn’t like to lie. But he has to, because he celebrated his real eighteenth birthday five centuries ago.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Some people say the Fountain of Youth is a myth. Jack knows better. He drank from the fabled fuente in 1513. Over the five hundred years since, he’s given up believing his life will ever again be normal–and that he’ll ever rediscover the magical spring. But when he learns the Fountain is located on the property of Nessa Owens, Jack takes up the search once more. And when Nessa captures his heart, his quest acquires new urgency.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Caught in the midst of a hurricane, surrounded by centuries-old memories and present day mysteries, Jack must risk all for a future with Nessa.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Will love prove more powerful than the enchanted waters of the Fountain of Youth?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>What I Thought: </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">HL Carpenter is a mother/daughter writing team who mixes a little history, mystery, a tad bit of mythology and some present day romance in Jack and The Fountain of Youth. The authors did a wonderful job creating a tale that captivated my imagination. The story moved at a quick pace. The cast of characters were well developed - and Jack - was divine! Unlike a lot of NA romances, there wasn't any intense sexual situations. Instead, the authors kept the romance sweet - making this suitable for younger ages as well.</span></span>DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-19632020060173131842014-08-11T21:13:00.001-04:002014-08-11T21:17:55.144-04:00Review of The Misadventures of Me and My Uterus<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">A while back, I received a copy of Laurie WJN's book - The Misadventures of Me and My Uterus. I had a lot going on at the time promoting my own novel and Misadventures was put in the <i>to be read</i> pile. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Fast-forward three months and OH MY GOSH - I had the period that wouldn't end. The frustration was incredible. And then I remembered Laurie and her book...</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnxwzRrvTFWVQs9LQg4RE2fIQqftp2dCQpwcXNydasUi1YVFEq85Zsx9yn8b6DyOThkUNYNB4W6YHJPZVu1MKuKGnweB7JUG5RUQfZ9AI4VJi0JR7fzlwjCdSSLcdoXdo32Q8bqCA4LE/s1600/Ebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnxwzRrvTFWVQs9LQg4RE2fIQqftp2dCQpwcXNydasUi1YVFEq85Zsx9yn8b6DyOThkUNYNB4W6YHJPZVu1MKuKGnweB7JUG5RUQfZ9AI4VJi0JR7fzlwjCdSSLcdoXdo32Q8bqCA4LE/s1600/Ebook.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Amazon Book Description</b>: From delivering babies to uterine biopsies, this book shares how being a woman can be tough, but laughter is always the best medicine. Topics ranging from Spring-Loaded Uterus (and other forms of birth control), Nothing says fun like a transvaginal ultrasound, and Ablation – its electric, share the personal struggle of one peri-menopausal woman through the maze of women’s health challenges. With humor and understanding, this book offers insight into the uniquely feminine perspective of women’s health care as you enter menopause. This laugh out loud memoir is relatable to any woman who has ever felt cursed by having a uterus.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>What I Thought: </b> Laurie WJN has shined a light on a subject most of us (women) prefer to ignore. Going through the "change" is nothing short of challenging. Laurie candidly shared her experiences. At times I was laughing out loud - and trust me - the battle going on within my body has been anything but funny. Still, I found myself feeling a sort of sisterhood with the author because finally someone had put into words what I was feeling and experiencing. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you are dealing with the stress of peri-menopause, then do yourself a favor - get this book! It's like sitting down with a girlfriend who's been through it all and now she's sharing her experience.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-14713339770860278962014-08-11T06:30:00.000-04:002014-08-11T06:30:03.203-04:00<h3 align="left" style="background: url(https://ssl.gstatic.com/sites/p/8e2bc5/system/app/themes/desertpanel/h3-border.gif) 0% 100% repeat-x rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #28728b; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 1.2em; margin: 1em 0px 0.5em; padding-bottom: 8px;">
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b> Novel Notions is thrilled to </b></span><b style="font-size: large;">welcome </b></div>
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<b style="font-size: large;">S.M. Pace, author of Wings of the Butterfly!</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>YA Fantasy</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 1.5;">Date Published: August 15, 2014</span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: small;">Three nations teeter on the brink of war, and caught in the middle, a brother and sister find themselves surrounded by dangers they never imagined. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: small;">Adopted by the Yurha, Toby still struggles to properly fit in. Hunting in the forest, he stumbles across a jeweled cuff that attaches to his wrist and won’t come off. Afraid at first, he is soon thrilled to discover the cuff carries powerful magic. But as he tries to control it, he realizes the cuff is still linked to its original owner - an owner who will go to cruel lengths to get his magic back.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: small;">Miles away, Toby’s twin sister Ora struggles with life in a strange city. She and family have fled Yois for Nietza, where Ora will not be arrested for possessing magic. However, Nietza is not the magical paradise Ora had imagined. Despite her new friends, she can’t feel safe in a country where women are little more than pawns. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: small;">Secrets, brutal murders and war edging ever closer drive both siblings from their safe places. Failure to stop those who pursue them will mean a fate worse than death. </span></span></div>
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S. M. Pace</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #111111;">S. M. Pace lives with her husband in the wilds of Virginia, along with a pond full of fish, a turtle and too many squirrels. When she's not writing, she's wrangling a dozen pre-schoolers, learning a new recipe or reading.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Website: <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://spacewomen/home/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #93584d; text-decoration: none;">http://spacewomen/home/</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/StephMPace" rel="nofollow" style="color: #93584d; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background: white; color: #66757f;">@<span>StephMPace</span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Blog: <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://smpace.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #93584d; text-decoration: none;">smpace.com</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><a href="http://www.smpace.com/fantasyworldspost/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">S. M. Pace's Fantasy World Post</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"> - Sign up to Fantasy World Post and get worldbuilding snippets, short fiction and behind the scenes peeks at my current WIP. All free, just for signing up. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Toby worked at the wrist cuff, but it
hardly budged. It had become something
like a piece of his arm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leaves shu<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>ddered
overhead. A pair of squirrels raced over
the branches, chittering. Toby sat alone
against the bole of a tree, a half mile or so from the settlement. No sign of an oversized hawk, but he had a
better idea than scanning the branches.
He’d ended up inside the hawk’s mind before. He thought he could do it again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He stripped away his leggings and
loin cloth and laid them beside him.
Naked, he shivered, despite the unusual heat of the mid-autumn day. A thrill of fear coursed through him at the
other part of his plan. The memory of
pale fur sprouting across his arm stuck hard in Toby’s head. <i>If it
means what I think it means, </i>the thought drifted as Toby steadied his breathing. He pressed his back against the rough bark
and sank into the wrist cuff. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The wellspring of magic nearly
swallowed him. He tried to imitate what
Kyat had done, pushing his awareness away from the crystals, and into the
metal. A different power, with the taste
of metal, stung him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Blackness swallowed him. He fought to stay aware. Everything shifted, spun, and someone else’s
mind swept over and around him. He
glimpsed scaled claws and dark feathers.
The hawk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He watched through the creature’s
eyes, and felt what it felt. Spasms
wracked its body. One claw flattened, flexed, the scales melting away to reveal
a misshapen foot. Toby cried out at the
pain of even that small success. Then
the foot twitched and turned back into a claw, and with a strangled cry, the
hawk took flight. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Toby was thrown back into his
body. He knew the hawk hid somewhere at
the north-eastern edge of the pack’s territory, where the hills began to give
way to mountains. He’d also learned
something else; the feel of a type of magic he’d never experienced before. He sent his mind back into the wrist
cuff. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He pushed away the bits of his
magic, and other magics he couldn’t name.
In the midst of those, the cuff held a bundle of power that curled and
writhed. Shifting magic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To wear fur and run on all
fours. To howl and tumble with his
brothers. To run with the pack during
full moon hunts, and take down a deer with his teeth. To be a wolf, like his family. To be truly one of them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Toby willed every ounce of those
thoughts into the magic and spread it through his body. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A cramp struck his lower belly and
doubled him over, then dropped him to his knees. His chest tightened and, for a moment, panic
seized him, and he wanted to shove the magic away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Linux Libertine"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He breathed slowly while spasms
wracked his body. The bones in his legs
cracked first, shifting, and forcing him to stand awkwardly on his hands and
feet. Then his arms and back twisted. His face crunched, stretched. His shoulders popped. Fur grew, like tiny pins bursting out of his
skin. The whine of an animal spilled
from his throat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-28409157527550089822014-08-02T20:29:00.001-04:002014-08-02T20:29:45.867-04:00Avoiding Continuity Problems<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Writing a novel takes time-it's not accomplished overnight. For many of us, it may take several months and this can lead to problems in the storyline. To put it simply - we forget the little stuff. The lack of continuity can ruin a good story simply because the inconsistent details become a distraction too big to ignore. </span><div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ex: The heroine was walking to her car - however, when she arrives - it has become a truck. It's a little thing but it takes the reader out of the moment.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While each of us has a different writing process, there are things we can do to minimize the lack of continuity in our stories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>1.</b> <b>Besides outlining or storyboarding, consider a timeline</b>. Timelines are a great way to "see" the story as it unfolds. Although, there are timeline creators available for download, I prefer to make my own. I tend to get pretty detailed - time/dates, character introductions & events (major and minor). For quick reference, I add things like daily schedules on the side.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>2.</b> <b>Know the setting.</b> Whether your setting is fictional or not, you must familiarize yourself with the layout of the town, spaceship, etc. Take the time to draw a map - labeling streets, buildings, corridors, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>3. Know the characters.</b> Create a character biography sheet detailing <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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everything: physical description, birthday, likes/dislikes, hobbies, family/friends, quirks, and important events that have impacted the character's life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>4. Know your objects. </b>If your character has an iPhone at the beginning of the story, he needs to be an iPhone in chapter 5.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Keep track of time: </b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make sure that the weather matches the time of year. </span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6.</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Read & Revise. </b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A story is</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> fluid - taking shape as it progresses. There will be times when ideas & characters appear and </span>BAM<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">! the story takes an unforeseen turn. Don't just insert the idea/character and move on. Look at your timeline, outline, storyboard, lists, etc. - then fix the problem. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By taking the time to create reference lists, we can minimize the occurrence of story inconsistencies.</span></div>
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DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-34066615877253664432014-08-01T00:13:00.002-04:002014-08-01T00:13:50.383-04:00Overcoming Writer's Block
<iframe id="vp10WtYU" title="Video Player" width="432" height="243" frameborder="0" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/embed.animoto.com/play.html?w=swf/production/vp1&e=1406866103&f=0WtYU9847TsQg1VxdHbFJw&d=0&m=b&r=360p&volume=100&start_res=360p&i=m&asset_domain=s3-p.animoto.com&animoto_domain=animoto.com&options=" allowfullscreen></iframe><p><a href="http://animoto.com/play/0WtYU9847TsQg1VxdHbFJw">Overcoming Writer's Block</a></p>DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-78298108019848273472014-07-31T06:30:00.000-04:002014-07-31T06:30:00.708-04:00The Neumarian Chronicles Blog Tour and Giveway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHi6Vvt_5gzsjx9vRdJAz0z28x3EJVCfhYIm_RBWpww8CefZTkQt5YcRdMu95Aa9AcEwA2Lmxr8phHj8piNpOgh3iy3Dpv1olfxZm_NoLmw7Nt6PT4X5EumW_Q6jQ4CodplQxnHn_XnGw/s1600/The+Neumarian+chronicles+banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHi6Vvt_5gzsjx9vRdJAz0z28x3EJVCfhYIm_RBWpww8CefZTkQt5YcRdMu95Aa9AcEwA2Lmxr8phHj8piNpOgh3iy3Dpv1olfxZm_NoLmw7Nt6PT4X5EumW_Q6jQ4CodplQxnHn_XnGw/s1600/The+Neumarian+chronicles+banner.jpg" height="146" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks for stopping by and meeting Ciara Knight! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check out her books and learn about what inspired the setting of the story!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the end of the post, you'll not only find excerpts of the stories but a chance to register for a giveaway! There will be 7 winners!</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">The
Neumarian Chronicles Blog Tour</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Title: Weighted<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Series: The Neumarian Chronicles<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Author: Ciara Knight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Publication:
August 18<sup>th</sup>, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Pages:
42<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TEGBb0jsfwJ69MN1105f4j5QkJB6tHHvvnXJsGKHjhnFkA5Lqio3QVugsn9zpN6eDC4fGiPnm08vYgmLLuzrxtzVWOjwuhYChAgGWTGRLSS1ha6-u-8ujr8rNxAW1rOIH7qI99qswoc/s1600/weighted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TEGBb0jsfwJ69MN1105f4j5QkJB6tHHvvnXJsGKHjhnFkA5Lqio3QVugsn9zpN6eDC4fGiPnm08vYgmLLuzrxtzVWOjwuhYChAgGWTGRLSS1ha6-u-8ujr8rNxAW1rOIH7qI99qswoc/s1600/weighted.jpg" height="200" width="132" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Synopsis</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Great War of 2185 is
over, but my nightmare has just begun. I am being held captive in the Queen’s
ship awaiting interrogation. My only possible ally is the princess, but I’m
unsure if she is really my friend or a trap set by the Queen to fool me into
sharing the secret of my gift. A gift I keep hidden even from myself. It swirls
inside my body begging for release, but it is the one thing the Queen can never
discover. Will I have the strength to keep the secret? I’ll know the answer
soon. If the stories are true about the interrogators, I’ll either be dead or a
traitor to my people by morning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Title:
Escapement</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Series: The
Neumarian Chronicles</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Author:
Ciara Knight</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Publication:
February 26<sup>th</sup>, 2013</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pages: 337</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_eOTN3j8hIDxtnZmcpNeP0hYGgpW0d_yepcimZXd007qXDPidFvVEcwr8CZBO79zqxXQkIbfRjbdmLZja5TTg1-6VOLbUVOrGEZ_U1Dvjx3ub4kSnjTBhUTD7vwlQxvtc6Be4hd_PY0g/s1600/escapement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_eOTN3j8hIDxtnZmcpNeP0hYGgpW0d_yepcimZXd007qXDPidFvVEcwr8CZBO79zqxXQkIbfRjbdmLZja5TTg1-6VOLbUVOrGEZ_U1Dvjx3ub4kSnjTBhUTD7vwlQxvtc6Be4hd_PY0g/s1600/escapement.jpg" height="200" width="132" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Synopsis</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ten years after the great war
of 2185 the queen’s reign is threatened by uprisings and fear. In celebration
of my sixteenth birthday it is my duty as princess to sacrifice a slave to be
initiated into the ruling council, solidifying my mother’s empire. When my own
erratic powers surface I’m captured and tried for treason. Slaves hate me, my
mother wants me executed, and my only chance of survival rests in the hands of
a young man, Ryder Arteres, whose sister I sentenced to death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Title: Pendulum</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Series:
The Neumarian Chronicles<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Author: Ciara Knight<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Publication:
December 2<sup>nd</sup>, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pages: 364<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEnx5kX3VzftYiw9OeMW8yoowEgBxDqUVOPXcLBuanvugaX8kZe7MptXbKpEhFKeeaqRhdd2iQZhxXfSU-HebmCIGi-ozvd_jqDaHyn-kxfjcxSt3jDqaCcridIuDB6zrNMOuGgEn5IY/s1600/pendulum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEnx5kX3VzftYiw9OeMW8yoowEgBxDqUVOPXcLBuanvugaX8kZe7MptXbKpEhFKeeaqRhdd2iQZhxXfSU-HebmCIGi-ozvd_jqDaHyn-kxfjcxSt3jDqaCcridIuDB6zrNMOuGgEn5IY/s1600/pendulum.jpg" height="200" width="132" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Synopsis</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Haunting memories.</span><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Terrifying dreams.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Crippling lies.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Trapped in a world of deception, my sanity rests
with the love of Ryder Arteres and our renegade friends. Six months of scouring
the ocean floor in a rebel ship fleeing our homeland, delivers us to a possible
alliance with the opportunistic European Council. Our only hope is to utilize
our forbidden gifts to free our people from slavery, proving our worth. But
when a trusted ally turns traitor and a new breed of the queen’s weaponry is
revealed, I’m forced to face the terror of my past to save our crumbling
future.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Title: Balance</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Series: The Neumarian Chronicles<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Author: Ciara Knight<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Publication:
April 28<sup>th</sup>, 2014<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pages: 266<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04Mh_0EBusYeCQtMugzTji162ntKNmTv42jZ5v2mAl2_-QPlKPb51ZodeJ9tLscXYeH841EZH8MXQinM95XUO163K9wMJPQ0Nff2gpN3LzOCoONlSZrRmwKFQ1X9uQWn_qzJ3pf_iuJY/s1600/balance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04Mh_0EBusYeCQtMugzTji162ntKNmTv42jZ5v2mAl2_-QPlKPb51ZodeJ9tLscXYeH841EZH8MXQinM95XUO163K9wMJPQ0Nff2gpN3LzOCoONlSZrRmwKFQ1X9uQWn_qzJ3pf_iuJY/s1600/balance.jpg" height="200" width="135" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Synopsis</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Life on a war-ravaged Earth
is a dying experience. Finally, after years of tyranny, the rebellion rises.
Once I rescue my fiancé Ryder Arteres, I, and the rebel general, will fight to
free our people. In a war where alliances shift and friends betray one another,
will the final battle prove the truth of the prophecy the queen has so
feared—her death—or will I lose everyone I love?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPDneEEfsnjAi2r13uDVyhkeewyq1ilY0TaCF8rRcS3YO3ZbVMDFyr8UWLxMLbt-ymnZeSN14irbMRE_9ZsR0YwZ3ku-Z9KUAd841xo4ZKio58iNIG1dIE5DQ-u64q1jKTv1i0ue_czo/s1600/Ciara+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPDneEEfsnjAi2r13uDVyhkeewyq1ilY0TaCF8rRcS3YO3ZbVMDFyr8UWLxMLbt-ymnZeSN14irbMRE_9ZsR0YwZ3ku-Z9KUAd841xo4ZKio58iNIG1dIE5DQ-u64q1jKTv1i0ue_czo/s1600/Ciara+pic.jpg" height="200" width="164" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Author Bio</span></div>
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.65pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Ciara Knight writes to 'Defy the Dark' with
speculative fiction books. Her Amazon #1 bestselling series, The Neumarian
Chronicles has received acclaimed reviews and awards. Escapement, book I, is a
Rone award nominee and<span class="apple-converted-space"> Pendulum, book
II, scored 4 stars<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> from RT Book Reviews, accolades from
InD’Tale Magazine, received a Night Owl Top Pick and is a Rone award finalist.
Her young adult paranormal series, Battle for Souls, received 5 stars from
Paranormal Romance Guild, is a Night Owl’s Top Pick and won Book of the Month
at Long and Short Reviews.</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.65pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When not writing, she enjoys reading all types of fiction. Some
great literary influences in her life include Edgar Allen Poe, Shakespeare,
Francine Rivers and J K Rowling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.65pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Her first love, besides her family, reading, and writing, is
travel. She's backpacked through Europe, visited orphanages in China, and
landed in a helicopter on a glacier in Alaska.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.65pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ciara is extremely sociable and can be found at Facebook
@ciaraknightwrites, Twitter @ciaratknight, Goodreads, Pinterest, and her
website ciaraknight.com.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u>Guest Post</u></b></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 13.65pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>What was the inspiration for
the setting of the story?<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m a Browncoat, need I say
more?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;">Okay, for those of you who are
not familiar with being a Browncoat, I’ll fill you in on Firefly and all it’s
greatness. For those fellow Browncoats, start reading Escapement now. Trust me,
you’ll love it. </span><span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;">J</span><span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Firefly is a space western that
Nathan Fillion starred in during it’s short run on Sci-fi, prior to it becoming
the Sy-Fy channel. ;) Anyhoo, the setting of the Neumarian Chronicles is
Firefly-esque, but there are a lot of different influences that helped create
the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The one main event that molded
the setting developed while watching the news. It was during a time when an
entire race was being annihilated due to prejudice, and I knew I wanted to
write something that honored those people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Neumarian Chronicles is set
on Earth in 2185. This is during a time of rebuilding after a great war. A
woman, who has become queen, enslaves a species called Neumarians in the name
of humans. Out of fear, people allow horrific crimes to be committed against a
population that once lived in secret, helping humans without recognition.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other element that plays a large
part in this world is alterations developed by humans. The queen wants to be as
powerful as those she’s enslaved, while maintaining her youthful appearance.
Also, during the war, many suffered loss of limbs and other body parts. Due to
limited resources, many humans and Neumarians resemble cyborgs. Not to mention
the weaponry and inventions the queen has created to maintain her position as
queen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite all the limited
resources, futuristic inventions and genetic mutations, this story at it’s
heart is about love, loss and freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The motto of the story is to be
bold, be brave, be free!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #555555; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Buy Links<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Weighted:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Amazon:</b>
http://www.amazon.com/Weighted-Neumarian-Chronicles-Steampunk-Book-ebook/dp/B008ZTD5BO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406091940&sr=8-2&keywords=ciara+knight</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Barnes and Noble:</b>
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/weighted-ciara-knight/1112558164?ean=2940045713030</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Escapement<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Amazon:</b> http://www.amazon.com/Escapement-Steampunk-Book-Neumarian-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00BC1H1I0/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1406091940&sr=8-6&keywords=ciara+knight</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Barnes and Noble:</b>
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/escapement-ciara-knight/1119370316?ean=2940045855693</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pendulum<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Amazon:</b>
http://www.amazon.com/Pendulum-Neumarian-Chronicles-Ciara-Knight-ebook/dp/B00H2NINZM/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=19CKSQAYQ9WT3RZCWAF8</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Barnes and Noble:</b>
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pendulum-ciara-knight/1117054016?ean=9781939081049</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Balance<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Amazon:</b> http://www.amazon.com/Balance-Neumarian-Chronicles-Ciara-Knight-ebook/dp/B00K0R7SYY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1406222374&sr=8-4&keywords=ciara+knight</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Barnes and Noble:</b>
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/balance-ciara-knight/1119319333?ean=2940045846943</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Author Links<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Facebook:</b> https://www.facebook.com/Ciaraknightwrites</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Twitter:</b> https://twitter.com/ciaratknight</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Goodreads: </b>https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5127753.Ciara_Knight</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Website: </b><a href="http://www.ciaraknight.com/">http://www.ciaraknight.com/</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u>Excerpts</u><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Escapement Excerpt<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The door swung open and four
guards entered before Dred stormed in. “Malvak orders ya all to the platform
now.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My stomach flopped. “No. It
hasn’t been an hour.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Malvak’s orders changed.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“You said they’d be spared,”
Ryder argued.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“They be ordered to watch.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dred’s words stung like a
laser through my heart. “No, please. You can’t. It’s too soon.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ryder still clutched one arm
and wouldn’t let me go. “Semara, listen to me.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“No, I won’t. This isn’t
going to happen. I’ll tell Malvak who I am and order your release.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Not wise.” Dred shoved the
key into Ryder’s cell door.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I had to do something,
anything to stop this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“We need you, Semara. You’re
the only one left in this war-torn world who can protect Raeth. Please, I
promised my folks before they were murdered I’d take care of her. Once I’m
gone—”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Don’t say that.” Tears stung
my eyes and I wanted to pull him against me and disappear.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ryder reached through the
bars and held the back of my head so our foreheads touched. “Once I’m gone, you
are her only family.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Enough, it’s time,” Dred
ordered.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The guards rushed into the
cell, bound Ryder’s wrists, and dragged him from the cell. One guard grabbed
Raeth by the arm and did the same to me. Dred stood at the outside of my cell,
door open, waiting for me to exit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I did all I could,” Dred
said with a heavy, deep tone. He bound my wrists and stepped back. “Sorry,
Malvak ordered—”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“You could do more. Trust me,
you’ll regret this later. You’ll go to sleep each night with Ryder’s face
haunting your dreams. I’m still tortured by making a wrong choice when I was
only twelve.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I shoved past him and went
out to the center of town. Acid rose in my throat at the sight of the noose
hanging from a wood beam. It had to be wood. If it had been metal, I could’ve
melted it and bought some more time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maybe I could try Ryder’s
plan and incapacitate Dred before he stopped me, then get his gun and take a
few down. If we could find cover and some metal we’d have a chance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I watched Dred out of the
corner of my eye as we approached the platform.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Don’t try it, pretty face.
I’ve trained for years to be a faster draw with me powers. Ya don’t stand a
chance. All you’ll accomplish is ya own death.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I lifted my chin, determined
to fight. “I can’t stand by and watch him die.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Ya don’t have a choice. None
of us do,” Dred insisted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“You do. Let me use my powers
and the three of us escape. Otherwise, you’ll have innocent blood on your
hands.” I pleaded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wind whipped through the
village. Creaks echoed from the skywalks. Water swished through the steel
waterways above. Cannons and barbed wire lined an exterior wall. It was a
fortress.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mother had been right to fear
them. Even if I freed Ryder, how could we get out? I suspected the walls were
electrified. Maybe I could short out the wires, but I’d need Raeth’s help to
demolish the wall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even if we managed to break
through the wall, then what? We’d have to get a ship and figure out where we
were.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There had to be a way to save
him. I had to be missing something.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A horn sounded and people
came out of homes and buildings, flooding the street to watch Ryder’s
execution. Didn’t they see they were no better than the council?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wrung my hands and pulled
at my rope bindings that rubbed my skin raw.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The smell of animals and
desert sand carried on the wind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A tall man appeared on one of
the skywalks with a fluffy cape of animal fur lining his huge frame. I couldn’t
make out his features, but he definitely had a tattoo running across his
forehead. A reflection of sunlight off his face indicated some piercings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“This here Neumarian is
charged with bringing the council’s wrath to our land. Do we wish to sacrifice
our way of life and be enslaved to the council?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“No,” the crowd yelled back
as if in a trance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Terminate the prisoner and
send his body as a gift to the queen.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“No!” I cried out and ran for
the platform. “You’re wrong. We only wish to go in peace. The queen doesn’t know
we’re here. We brought a gift!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I ran up the steps, but a
guard snagged my hair, knocking me down so hard the wood cracked against my
shoulder. A pain shot down my arm. Ryder shouldered the man and raced to my
side. “Semara, please, don’t do this.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I can’t watch you die,” I
managed through sobs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The guards tore us apart and
placed Ryder on top of a box.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I fought with all my strength
and drew heat from my core to my hands, but the mind splitting pain made me
collapse. I lay on the floor of the platform forced to watch the noose being
secured around his neck.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Proceed with the execution.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The guard kicked the box out
from under Ryder and the rope snapped tight around his throat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 0.3in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pendulum Excerpt<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ryder tipped my chin up and pressed a kiss to my forehead. At
feeling his suppressed desire and longing, I nuzzled his neck, seeking more,
wanting to touch him, not through his uniform but his bare skin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Shh. You need sleep. Nightmares have been keeping you up. You’re
exhausted. Wish I could be there to hold you through them, but we should arrive
at the ENR base soon. It’s been too long.” His hand slipped to the nape of my
neck. “Once we reach land, no one will keep us apart.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heat surged to my face and I leaned into his hands. “Nightmares?
How did you…oh, your sister. Great. Guess Raeth can’t keep a secret.” I knew
Raeth only told her brother out of concern, but I’d still chastise my best
friend when I got back to my room.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“She just confirmed what I’d felt through our bond.” Ryder drew a
circle around the tip of my nose with his. “What you been dreaming’ about?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His closeness weakened my resolve to keep it from him. He’d think I
was crazy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Tell me,” he urged, brushing his lips across mine in a
feather-light touch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My breath hitched and the memories of beatings and torture faded
when his thumb glided down my cheek. “It doesn’t matter. Kiss me.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His lips claimed mine with a too long-suppressed urgency. He needed
and wanted me as much as I did him. If we didn’t make it to land soon, they’d
have mutiny on their hands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I inhaled his scent, absorbing it into my soul. Even after all this
time beneath the sea, a hint of Earth remained and I savored the aroma. He’d
always smell the same to me. A musky, earthy smell, with a hint of freedom. The
aroma wrapped around my body like a shield of strength.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Steps thumped down the corridor and he broke the kiss. “Tell me.
Before we have to go.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I panted and shook my head. From the moment we’d met, he twisted me
up inside until I’d share whatever he wanted to know. “Images mostly. My mother,
my father. I never see his face, but I see hers.” I suppressed a shudder. “None
of it makes sense. It’s almost like I feel physical pain, but I can’t see the
memory.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ryder’s eyes narrowed. “What’s Gordon been doing to you during
those <i>sessions?</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Gordon? Nothing. He’s been helping me remember things. He says
I’ve been reprogrammed. He’s trained in opening the mind back up and he thinks
I could remember something that would help the rebellion.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ryder glanced down the hall. “Maybe so, but I don’t like you
suffering. Mighty easy for him to push you into helping. But you need to know
when to back off. You been training so much and been working with Captain
Gordon, you haven’t gotten any rest.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Maybe that’s because I don’t want to.” I stared up at him. “I’m
frightened, Ryder. Terrified my mother’s programmed me into being some kind of
weapon.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“I won’t let that happen.” He kissed me again then rested his
forehead against mine. “We, just the two of us, need to find some time alone.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I struggled to stay calm, to not let my frustration and jealousy
out. I failed. “The last time I tried to take some time off, you were busy with
Mart and her <i>training</i>. Can’t you
train with someone else, like me? Why does it always have to be her?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Jealous?” The side of his lip quirked up into a teasing grin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Yes</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">! “No!
No more than you are of Gordon.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He straightened, his hand moving down from my neck to my lower
back. “Let’s not do this. It’s late. I don’t want to argue.” Hugging me, he
lifted me into the air until I was at eye level then he nuzzled my neck.
“Rather do other things with you than fight.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A giggle slipped from my lips.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Love that sound.” Ryder nipped my earlobe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“What sound?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“You happy. Someday, we’ll go to that Resort Territory of yours,”
Ryder slid his nose down the side of my neck, “where we can laugh all day.” His
tongue traced the path his nose had just made. “Swim naked in that lake of
yours.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A guard stomped along the metal grate floor and halted a few meters
away. “Hey, you two. Lights out in five. Don’t make me throw you in the brig.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My head still spun from Ryder’s words. He gently lowered me to the
ground. My knees shook, but I managed to remain upright.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ryder scowled.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Now,” the guard ordered, his face grim and determined.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ryder growled low in his chest then kissed my cheek. “Until later,”
he whispered.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Balance Excerpt<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“There is more to the prophecy.” Fallon stated.</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">“What do you mean?” I
asked.</span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">“You realize the claim
of the Triune is real.”</span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
I snickered, “Yes, I can’t deny that
anymore.”<br />
“That leaked from our council during
the war, but we were able to keep the rest of the intel to ourselves. You see,
one of the members of the Neumarian Council could estimate future events based
on current trends. It’s sort of a statistical prophecy in a way. Of course,
it’s deeper than that. The one who had the gift also channeled more than just
facts, emotions, psychology, the art of body language and behavior. All the
information was churned up and a prophecy was spit out.”<br />
“What is the rest?” I asked.<br />
“Penton must be the protector of the
Triune…” He nodded to Harrison and a click sounded in my head. Fallon leaned
close and whispered. “…the one who will risk his life and die to save the
Triune.”<br />
I cupped my hands over my mouth to stop
the gasp from reaching Raeth’s ears.<br />
My pulse thrashed at my neck. I slowly
lowered my hands to my side. “You think he’s going to die out there, don’t
you?”<br />
Fallon clasped my hands in his.<br />
“Yes.”</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Giveaway!</b></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There will be 7 winners!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prize List:</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
1-$25.00 giftcard</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
1-Signed print copy of Escapement</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
1-Signed print copy of Pendulum</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
1-Signed print copy of Balance</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
1-ecopy of Escapement</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
1-ecopy of Pendulum</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
1-ecopy of Balance</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-2275871517758099222014-07-29T20:20:00.000-04:002014-07-29T20:20:05.080-04:00My First Attempt at Flash Fiction<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wish Away </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">by: DS McKnight</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQK797KIJzztcO4VLeUIKhoVHUTfbTVE_MNxqWlWZageLCID4koT16FiGgr3ElATfKVkUL6dsVFCwxuseDLT4BH7dsHHtdBAxFxdAgJP7tqmsWhu4zJd6QkF6MN0zu6kAwJkd0QtngwU/s1600/waitress.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQK797KIJzztcO4VLeUIKhoVHUTfbTVE_MNxqWlWZageLCID4koT16FiGgr3ElATfKVkUL6dsVFCwxuseDLT4BH7dsHHtdBAxFxdAgJP7tqmsWhu4zJd6QkF6MN0zu6kAwJkd0QtngwU/s1600/waitress.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Breathing a sigh of relief, I lock the door and turn off the open sign. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been a </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">long day and my feet are aching. I dread the walk to my apartment. It's times like these, I wish I had a car. Who am I kidding? At times like this, I wish I had a different life. Waiting tables and eating cheapo mac and cheese (that's right, because I can't afford the good stuff) isn't how I had envisioned my life. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There was a time when I had dreams, dreams of life in the big city, designing clothes, attending parties. A party of five at table four is the closest I'm going to come to excitement. Shelbyville is the definition of boring. We roll up the sidewalks at sundown.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After I finished mopping the diner, I grab my purse and jacket. "I'm out," I yell to Jack, the short order cook. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Alright," he answers. "See you tomorrow." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Of course you will</i>, I think to myself. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The crisp night air smells wonderful. It's a definite improvement from the stale, deep fried odor that permeates the diner. As I walk the short distance to my apartment, I let my mind wander. I imagine going out to eat and not worrying about the price of dinner. I wonder what it would be like to have my nails professionally manicured. I try to remember the last time I bought clothes that weren't from a bargain outlet. Lost in my thoughts, I fail to pay attention to the footsteps that are following me until it's too late. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hands grab me from behind. I try to scream but my assailant has muffled my mouth. I hear him laugh as he drags me down an alley. He whispers in my ear, "It's a shame to wish your life away." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My blood runs cold. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He continues, "But don't worry, you won't have to go to the diner again…" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I struggle, trying to twist away. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"We're going to have a little party and you're not only the guest of honor—you're the main course." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His teeth scrap over my neck. I feel his fangs sink into my tender flesh. The pain is excruciating… and then, it's over and I'm no more.
</span>DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-81970114496643523732014-07-23T22:44:00.000-04:002014-07-23T22:44:17.152-04:00The Parasites - Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFVJbvSwL_Q5D6r38jBI5LaQNb7_IOrJHlsYSaOeqfwBXQzoMk8w9GPwxO891ygr0_TnLqxK-BnuSPmWs5_GtXWjBHZOM6gvVaMJ3_IdJYR_Abd9JsPIu8tM225x24-N5LivXXY2eLPA/s1600/The+Parasites.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFVJbvSwL_Q5D6r38jBI5LaQNb7_IOrJHlsYSaOeqfwBXQzoMk8w9GPwxO891ygr0_TnLqxK-BnuSPmWs5_GtXWjBHZOM6gvVaMJ3_IdJYR_Abd9JsPIu8tM225x24-N5LivXXY2eLPA/s1600/The+Parasites.jpg" height="320" width="225" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marjorie DeLuca's The Parasites (The Iduna Project Book 2) grabbed hold of my imagination and didn't let go. While I enjoyed reading The Forever Ones (Book 1), DeLuca's storytelling shines in Parasites. The plot is tighter and the characters are better developed. I loved the growth shown by Paige, the main character. And I had some serious character love going for Crime Lord Antoine. But my favorite part of this book was the action - there was a lot of it - and it gets really intense. This is where DeLuca shined. I enjoy an action-packed movie that has me on the edge of my seat and while reading The Parasites, I could see the scenes - the explosions, the carnage - and I loved it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Parasites-Iduna-Project-Book-ebook/dp/B00L4KMK2Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406168756&sr=8-1&keywords=the+parasites+marjorie+deluca">Amazon Purchase Link</a></span><br />
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<img goomoji="B68" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/B68" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: small; margin: 0px 0.2ex; vertical-align: middle;" /><img goomoji="B68" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/B68" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: small; margin: 0px 0.2ex; vertical-align: middle;" /><img goomoji="B68" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/B68" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: small; margin: 0px 0.2ex; vertical-align: middle;" /><img goomoji="B68" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/B68" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: small; margin: 0px 0.2ex; vertical-align: middle;" /><img goomoji="B68" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/B68" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: small; margin: 0px 0.2ex; vertical-align: middle;" />DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-72364690791710467492014-07-22T07:00:00.000-04:002014-07-22T07:00:06.826-04:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Hearken ( Daughters Of the
Sea #4 ) </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">Now Available!</span></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', Palatino; font-size: 14pt;">Haven't read the first 3 in the
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<span style="font-size: 18pt;">★SALE!! Only $.99 cents each!★ </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Daughters of the Sea
Series!</span> </span></div>
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<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18pt;" style="font-size: 18pt;">Book #1 - <a data-mcehref="
http://bit.ly/Forsaken-Amazon" href="http://bit.ly/Forsaken-Amazon"
target="_blank">http://bit.ly/Forsaken-Amazon</a></span></div>
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Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<br /></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18pt;" style="font-size: 18pt;">Book #2 - <a data-mcehref="
http://bit.ly/Awaken-Amazon" href="http://bit.ly/Awaken-Amazon"
target="_blank">http://bit.ly/Awaken-Amazon</a></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
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<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 18pt;" style="font-size: 18pt;">Book #3 - <a data-mcehref="
http://bit.ly/Chosen-Amazon" href="http://bit.ly/Chosen-Amazon"
target="_blank">http://bit.ly/Chosen-Amazon</a></span></div>
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-1872" src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wpcontent/
uploads/2014/07/10514624_247488218708600_4496174514137620830_n1.jpg" height="256"
width="662" /></div>
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writeMime=image%2F*" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; marginright:
1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="alignleft wp-image-1873"
src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/22709134.jpg"
height="434" width="280" /></a></div>
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When the evil you fear is born from within, who will save us…from ourselves?</div>
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Sometimes our souls hear what our minds and hearts refuse to accept. It will whisper its continuous
cadence until we're strong enough to glimpse the truth. But when the soul's whispers morph into
screams, we're forced to gaze into the mirrors of time and see ourselves for who we really are.<br />
<br />
Grappling with her newfound leadership position, Stasia begins to experience a recurring
nightmare of murder, as well as curious reveries about a violet-eyed girl who can control the moon.
When tragedy grips the Tydes and several important relics are stolen from the Sons of Daimon, Stasia’s
Council leaves for the forgotten island of Atlantis. Unfortunately Atlantis harbors its own secrets, and
they are all calling to Stasia. As her nightmares become worse and she begins to lose control of her
mind, those around her must find a way to reach her…and fast.<br />
<br />
Olivia Campbell is used to getting what she wants, when she wants it. But destiny never asked
Olivia what she wanted. Being Chosen to be a Paladin at birth had not been something she wanted, and
she definitely hadn’t wanted her charge to be Anastasia. Unfortunately their irritatingly persistent
Atlantean guide, Sebastian, seems to know all about her and the secrets she’s been hiding. As she fights
to protect Stasia from an unknown force, Olivia’s own courage and loyalty will be tested in ways she
never imagined. Will she be able to tell Stasia the truth before it’s too late for them both.
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<span style="font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><span datamce-
style="font-size: 18pt;" style="font-size: 18pt;">Purchase your copy of Hearken
today!</span></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="text-decoration: underline;" style="text-decoration: underline;"><span datamce-
style="font-size: 18pt;" style="font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Kobo: <a data-mcehref="
http://bit.ly/Hearken-Kobo" href="http://bit.ly/Hearken-Kobo"
target="_blank">http://bit.ly/Hearken-Kobo</a></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Amazon: <a data-mcehref="
http://bit.ly/Amazon-KristenDayAuthorPage" href="http://bit.ly/Amazon-KristenDayAuthorPage"
target="_blank">http://bit.ly/Amazon-KristenDayAuthorPage</a></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Smashwords: <a data-mcehref="
http://bit.ly/Hearken-Smashwords" href="http://bit.ly/Hearken-Smashwords"
target="_blank">http://bit.ly/Hearken-Smashwords</a></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: center;" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New
Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-size: 14pt;" style="font-size: 14pt;">Barnes & Noble: <a datamce-
href="http://bit.ly/BN-KristenDay" href="http://bit.ly/BN-KristenDay"
target="_blank">http://bit.ly/BN-KristenDay</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>About Kristen
Day</b></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER">
<a href="http://www.kris10-day.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;"><span
lang="zxx">Website</span></span><span style="color: blue;"> </span></a><span style="color:
black;">/</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: navy;"><span
lang="zxx"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DOSTrilogy">Facebook</a></span></span><span
style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">/</span><span style="color:
black;"> </span><span style="color: navy;"><span lang="zxx"><a
href="https://twitter.com/kris10_day">Twitter</a></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER">
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writeMime=image%2F*" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; marginright:
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src="http://markmywordsbookpublicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/AuthorPic3.jpg"
height="234" width="200" /></a> </div>
<div align="CENTER">
</div>
<span style="color: #181818;">I am a southern belle at heart with a crazy streak that desperately tries to
escape at every opportunity. I love all things nostalgic, rustic, and quirky. I've been told I see the world
through rose-colored glasses, but I prefer to think of them as kaleidoscope glasses - swirling and
morphing reality into something I can digest (who hasn't pretended those pasty lima beans were really
kiwi strawberry jelly beans?). </span>
<span style="color: #181818;">When I'm not writing I'm making jewelry, painting, drinking sweet tea,
watching the discovery channel, or going on random adventures in the mountains of North Carolina with
my amazing husband.</span>
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</div>DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-65881934358004081472014-07-20T21:08:00.000-04:002014-07-20T21:08:05.406-04:00Cooking Up Creativity<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px; text-align: left;">“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” ~Henri Matisse</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiarxPJ1dt1eWx2VjfvnHDw3NFi_WwGgNrGe8ML7Aa7JcfjpHVD6emKifKYdcTb-27TmoiUDNqfDxsPs6Brl1s_BVBQUrQb3fAUHBRrIjHRZ1nW0YeUrDuAsFxRR1qwIWhRplU0V0d7U-k/s1600/flower.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiarxPJ1dt1eWx2VjfvnHDw3NFi_WwGgNrGe8ML7Aa7JcfjpHVD6emKifKYdcTb-27TmoiUDNqfDxsPs6Brl1s_BVBQUrQb3fAUHBRrIjHRZ1nW0YeUrDuAsFxRR1qwIWhRplU0V0d7U-k/s1600/flower.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If creativity was a plant, then inspiration </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">would be its </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">flower. Just like with a plant, our creativity must be cared for - watered, fertilized, pruned and sometimes, repotted. As writers, we do this in a variety of ways. Some of us look to nature - we may go for a walk, watch a sunset, or listen to the rain. Others may focus on something artistic - like painting, scrapbooking, or music.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But what if our tried and true methods don't work and we are stuck with writer's block? Do we shake our fists in frustration? Or do we wait for our muse to take pity on us? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We might try to incorporate our writing into our daily lives. Think about the setting of the story. Where does it take place? What stands out about the location? Think about the smells, the tastes... Could preparing your main character's favorite meal put you in the right frame of mind? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What are you waiting for? Break out those pots and pans!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, this isn't my character's favorite dish - but it's one of mine. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Hope you enjoy!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Mexican Chicken Casserole</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 - 10 oz pkg of Vigo yellow rice (Cook as directed)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 onion, chopped</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 stick butter or margarine</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 can Cream of Chicken Soup</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 can of Rotel</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/2 lb Velvetta cheese</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 chicken, boiled and deboned</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Preheat oven to 350 degrees.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Boil and debone chicken, pull into small pieces and lay in the bottom of 9x13 pan. Cover with the cooked rice. Melt butter in pan and add other ingredients. Heat until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Pour over rice. (Make sure the sauce seeps through the rice to reach the chicken.) Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-52989361876383701082014-07-15T20:30:00.004-04:002014-07-15T20:30:59.326-04:00My Favorite Writers Resource<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the beginning was an idea - an idea that would eventually become a story. After plucking away on my keyboard, pouring my heart and soul into what I was sure was going to be literary gold, the truth bit me on the butt - and none too gently, I might add. My emotional masterpiece wasn't a masterpiece at all. Why? Because my readers didn't connect to the emotion of the scene. Sure, they knew what the emotions were - because I did a good job telling them. But by saying how my characters felt, I did a disservice to my readers, my characters and my story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Readers connect with characters they can relate to - characters that "do" things - like hunching their shoulders when they are tired or picking at their clothes when they are nervous. And this was the part of my problem. I was really good at saying the character felt blah, blah, blah. But that made for a mediocre reading experience. By <b>showing</b> how the character felt - using body movements, etc - the scene was transformed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are some really good sources to help us as we journey along our writing path. One of those sources is a favorite website called <a href="http://writershelpingwriters.net/">Writers Helping Writers</a>. Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman are the masterminds behind this site and if you haven't visited - then click on the above link. You'll love it.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLtuReKlxo49SENHVdqvUYGlL0zfyTRYe-iECoecj2zmsf8pJQV3zdpzNi4GkwsRgCsrkv_ZpYlZ8Y_sKza65bb0_9dM1KQnYflGenU81od55cKXTtWcgzJ82ZQJf_KsaZtVouI4anzsg/s1600/thesaurus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XXCr0Jy6Kzcn5M0daUzixfwQbWfj3xyjUHIaU3a3zy18GrSABP_Sv5GncVcqzTI2TzEo7SFWY-LWf98Gr8aljjn0PXedm7X8229L04S_7vzUWA-af5L_1sIXvpgCYOHv5gfVCmY4BUI/s1600/61yqBlN9SpL._AA160_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XXCr0Jy6Kzcn5M0daUzixfwQbWfj3xyjUHIaU3a3zy18GrSABP_Sv5GncVcqzTI2TzEo7SFWY-LWf98Gr8aljjn0PXedm7X8229L04S_7vzUWA-af5L_1sIXvpgCYOHv5gfVCmY4BUI/s1600/61yqBlN9SpL._AA160_.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Their book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Emotion-Thesaurus-Writers-Character-Expression-ebook/dp/B00822WM2M/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1405465929&sr=1-1&keywords=the+emotion+thesaurus">The Emotion Thesaurus</a> has become one of my favorite tools. When I get stumped on how to effectively show a certain character's expression, I turn to this book. The thesaurus offers ideas such as physical signals, internal sensations and mental responses. It not only saves time but helps alleviate frustration. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What resource have you found that has helped you with your writing? </span><br />
DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-90730434817709818452014-07-13T16:53:00.001-04:002014-07-13T16:53:31.059-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-52205919637418627632014-07-08T20:24:00.002-04:002014-07-08T20:24:49.653-04:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Blackout is the first novel in the Darkness Trilogy by Madeleine Henry. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One wall divides life from darkness. After the worldwide Blackout, America built a concrete wall--the Frontier--across the middle of the nation to isolate its precious electricity in the top half. Everyone below the Frontier was forsaken, and now only a few survive in the grim region known as the Dark Zone.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Sixteen year old Phoenix Troublefield endures the dark with his girlfriend, Star Windsong. When America announces that it will trade electricity for immigrants, Phoenix and Star sacrifice themselves for the power that might save her younger brother. On the other side of the Frontier, they find America is not what they expected, and instead they are thrown into a shocking and deeply personal contest that threatens to destroy their love. When the chance comes to escape back into the Dark Zone, it may already be too late.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>What I thought:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The author is gifted with a wonderful writing style. Blackout moves along at a quick pace while maintaining an intense mood. The story is told through the eyes of Pheonix. He is tough and loyal and I just loved him. There are other characters to love as well (and some you may love to hate). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was drawn into the story and was disappointed when I reached the end and realized the 2nd book hasn't been released. If you enjoy reading dystopian novels, I highly recommend you check this one out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>To purchase, click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blackout-Darkness-Trilogy-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00L5DUS2G/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top">here</a>.</b></span><br />
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<br />DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7131764171222014716.post-14132370993763308712014-07-06T21:51:00.000-04:002014-07-06T21:53:13.613-04:00New Release - The Reasons Why<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Sometimes, no matter how inconvenient, a character appears and refuses to leave. That was the case with Britney Brown and Michael Stevens. They showed up and insisted on sharing their story. I tried to give them the brush them off - but it did no good. They became a distraction I could no longer ignore. I was hesitant when I realized their story wasn't going to be popular with some people. But that's life - it's not simple. In fact, it can be confusing and painful. <strong> The Reasons Why</strong> is their story.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://dsmcknight67.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/reasonswhy_500x750.jpg" href="https://dsmcknight67.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/reasonswhy_500x750.jpg"><img alt="reasonswhy_500x750" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-320 alignleft" data-mce-src="http://dsmcknight67.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/reasonswhy_500x750.jpg?w=200" src="http://dsmcknight67.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/reasonswhy_500x750.jpg?w=200" height="300" style="float: left;" width="200" /></a></div>
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<strong>Choosing the cover:</strong></div>
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I visited several sites but when I found Linda Kage, I looked no further. There was something about this picture that tugged at my heart. It seemed to capture Britney and Michael's relationship.</div>
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<strong>E-Book Formatting:</strong></div>
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I tried to format the e-book myself. It might have been easier if I would have used something other than Word. After several attempts - and not being satisfied with the preview, I choose to pay someone to format it for me. If you haven't checked out Fiverr, give them a look. I found an <a data-mce-href="http://http://www.fiverr.com/bbccoffeescribe" href="http://http//www.fiverr.com/bbccoffeescribe" target="_blank">ebook formatter</a> that had a 5 star rating. Not only was the process easy, it was inexpensive.</div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Reasons-Why-DS-McKnight-ebook/dp/B00LKJH922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404688982&sr=8-1&keywords=the+reasons+why+by+ds+mcknight" href="http://www.amazon.com/Reasons-Why-DS-McKnight-ebook/dp/B00LKJH922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404688982&sr=8-1&keywords=the+reasons+why+by+ds+mcknight" target="_blank" title="The Reasons Why"><strong>The Reasons Why</strong></a> is a New Adult Contemporary Romance. At approximately 25,500 words, it's perfect for a poolside read and is available for Kindle Download.</div>
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<strong>Description:</strong></div>
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When Claudia Brown and Marcus Stevens married, they never imagined their love would turn their children's lives upside down but that is exactly what happened. For Britney and Michael, navigating the terrain of their new family is like walking through a mine field of emotions as they try to ignore their growing attraction. One false move and everything could blow up.</div>
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DS McKnighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18164203240726478329noreply@blogger.com0