Review: “A Promise of Pure Gardenias” by Jackie Williams

“A Promise of Pure Gardenias” by Jackie Williams is a wonderful historical romance. Being a fan of Jackie Williams amazingly sensitive and enjoyable military romances (yes, military) I was reluctant to venture into a new series, but I’m pleased I did.
Brendon Spencer is introduced to us as a young lad in 1799, experiencing a rude awakening from his innocent childhood play. Some six years later his personal reputation is stained and his heart is captured in an odd and twisted incident.

What follows is the complicated courtship between Brendon and Sophia, full of chemistry but also misperceptions – a hint of Pride and Prejudice I might say but definitely not in the copy-cat kind of way but in a ratehr delightful interplay of it’s own flavour. Two strong characters whose interactions easily fills a book or two.
Set in the romance-inspiring Regency period, with eloquent and masterfully floral use of language, wit and humour, this is a very enjoyable and compelling read that should please fans of the genre and those willing to venture into it.

Blurb:
Drat the woman! Did she have to be so beautiful, to smell so enticing? A year of avoidance and she still tempted him beyond distraction. Made him want her with a passion that almost frightened him, but he knew better than to go there again…

He had been about to go down on his knees, beg her to make him the happiest of men, when Sophia Barclay had suddenly spoken, her lilting tones ringing loud and clear. ‘I won’t marry Brendon Spencer! I absolutely refuse!’ Saved him a world of indignity, he supposed, but the rejection still cut deep. Even taking a mistress hadn’t lessened the pain. Especially when that mistress might have spilled his secret. A secret that he would rather cut off his nose than reveal.

Drat the man! How dare he barge back into her life and make assumptions. Brendon Spencer had abandoned her, and had taken a mistress for a whole year! What gave him the right to become so affronted? Sophia would go to breakfast with whomsoever she liked, regardless of propriety! Why should she care what he thought? No one had worried about her while she was alone, certainly not that pompous arse!

But her heart throbbed at the sight of him and her insides fluttered alarmingly, even while the humiliation of unrequited love burned deep. How could she still want him when he clearly thought nothing of her?

With his father in imminent danger and responsibility threatening fast, can Brendon face his fears and contain his legendary temper long enough to win the woman he most desires?

A Promise of Pure Gardenias (Book 2 in the Untamed Regency series) is a standalone story suitable for ages 16 and upwards due to sensual love scenes and adult language. The series is best read in order to appreciate returning characters and places.

A Bed of Wild Roses (Book 1 in the Untamed Regency Series)

 

I was born in Essex England during the mid sixties but I missed all the fun. Being only young I assumed that all Beatles were six legged creatures and Flower Power was something to do with the vigorous way my mother kneaded the bread dough.
My wonderful parents brought me up with a huge love of books. We read anything and everything. Bedtime stories were a treasured time of adventure and mystery. My sister and I sat wide eyed in wonder and to this day I worry about Dinah and Dorinda being pricked with pins because they grew so fat, and I never pull faces at the a waning moon (or was it a waxing one?) just in case my chops stay that way . (The Wind On The Moon)I began reading romance while still at school. The fuel for many a teenage fantasy leapt from between the covers of wildly romantic books and my passion still lingers now for all those dashing, dark haired heroes.

My own beautiful daughter persuaded me to write my first romance. She enjoyed the resulting tale so much that she shared it with her friends and I eventually published A Perfect Summer as an ebook on amazon.

But I have discovered that this writing bug is not easily stopped. It has turned into a grand passion that I just cannot hold back. Ideas come flooding in the strangest of places. While driving the car, when choosing ripe avocados in the supermarket, even during sweaty sessions at the gym, far too many for just one book and so I began another and then another. Eight years and twenty-five books later I am still nowhere near done. Book 26 is on its way and only just the other night I woke from a wild and wonderful dream with yet another plot fully formed in my head.

I hope you enjoy all of my efforts and I look forward to your comments and reviews.

Welsh Wednesdays: Re-release of one of my favourite Welsh books: “Just a Bit of Banter, Like” by Chris Westlake

Today I am happy to present another chance find of mine: Chris Westlake and his lovely book: “Just a Bit of Banter, Like: A heartwarming, feel-good novel with plenty of laugh out loud moments”
The book was released first a few years back. I didn’t even live in Wales but found the tone of the book charming and hugely entertaining. Now the book is back with a new cover, so here’s my review and an interview with Chris from back then.

“Just a Bit of Banter, Like…” by Chris Westlake is a warm hearted, funny and charming book with some serious and depper tones.
It describes the downward spiral and recovery of a young Welsh man in London when he discovered his girlfriend and his best friend in bed together. Katie was the perfect girlfriend and it takes him some time to get over his problems.
He moves back to Wales, where he is confronted with some ghosts from his past and where he finds out that you cannot run away from your problems. Gradually through a string of small events and baby steps his life starts to turn round again.
Told in a warm and very dry humorous way the book is funny, upbeat and philosophical in one. The friendships Nick has in London and in Wales and the harmless “banter” (from the title) between them is very entertaining and has some great one-liners and it also has a very authentic feel. It helps that I not only live near the Bristol Channel but also have a Welsh partner; but beyond the setting and the specifics, the book has a wonderful message that is beautifully delivered.
This is not a action packed fast read but a very accomplished slow burner with more than meets the eye. A great read.

Blurb:

Hero to zero and then…? Experience the world as seen through the eyes of Nick Evans, a young city-slicker with a trophy-girlfriend on his arm. Fast-forward just a day and he’s caught his girlfriend in an uncompromising position with his friend, accidentally sent a rude email to his boss – and he’s on his way home to South Wales with his tail firmly between his legs, unemployed and single.
Mysteries galore and family saga await him. What secrets are taunting his best friend Den? Why have Nan and Mum not spoken for as long as Nick can remember? And whatever happened to childhood friend Sam, who mysteriously disappeared just after A-Levels and has not been seen since…? Enjoy the journey as Nick desperately tries to unravel the mysteries and piece his life together, often with darkly hilarious results…

Just a Bit of Banter, Like is a life-affirming novel where Nick discovers what is truly important to him. The novel is frequently heartwarming, often dark but usually funny. There are scenes that will tug firmly at your heartstrings and others that will make you laugh out loud.

Chris Westlake has written a second novel, At Least the Pink Elephants are Laughing at Us, and a short story collection, Now the Party is Finally Over. Chris has started his third novel, which he promises will contain all the darkness and hilarity of his current books!

Hi Chris, thanks for joining me today, please tell us a little about yourself as a person and your life:

As a person, I like to think that I am a down-to-earth, easy-going kind of guy. That’s what I strive for, anyway. It is not always the case! I like to draw a line between my creative side and my practical side. I work full-time as a team leader in a public-facing role. I like playing football and I have recently joined a tai boxing class, although most of the members of the group are much more committed than I am! I have wonderful wife, Elizabeth, who I’ve been married to for seven years.

Tell us a little about your writing 

My writing is mainly restricted to the weekends, where I hole myself away in the library with just my laptop, earphones and big flask of coffee. I loved writing as a child, from the age of seven. I wrote long, rambling stories about monsters and football teams and roller-coasters. I loved creating new worlds with infinite possibilities! My mum and grandparents read the stories and excitedly told me how good they were. I knew then that I would be a writer. And then I stopped writing. School and university and work got in the way. I know. Excuses, excuses. Practical life seemed so much more prominent and urgent. I always knew that I would start writing again, I just did not know when.

Four years ago I decided that the time was right. I enrolled on an online writing course. I thrived on the feedback from the tutor, just as I had from my family as a child. I had a few letters published in magazines and earned a little money.

Then I won my first competition. That was an amazing thrill. My short Story, Welsh Lessons, won the Global Short Stories Award 2010. I came first out of about 600 other contestants. And then The Heatwave of 76 won the Stringbybark Erotic Stories Award. I had about seven stories published in e-book anthologies. I thought it was the right time to start a novel. I am still exploring genre. It is in no way my intention to be restrictive. My writing is intended to be enjoyable, to make you think and to be original. If I achieve this then I do not see why I cannot write across many genres.

One thing I have been consistent with is location. My competition winning stories were based in coastal South Wales, where I was born and brought up. I now live in Birmingham, and with every passing day I’m away that I am a day further away from my original roots. Setting my stories in Wales feels good and it feels right.

Tell us about writing and publishing JUST A BIT OF BANTER, LIKE

I started writing Just a Bit of Banter, Like at the beginning of 2012 and it took me near enough twelve months to complete. Most writers make a clear separating between research, planning, drafting and editing of a novel, but it is inevitable that the stages overlap. The story had a rough plan and further research was needed to iron out the final details. Drafting is the most frustrating stage. The temptation is always there (and I think most writers will agree that the temptation is very strong) to tweak every word as you go along, because it is difficult to leave words alone that you are not entirely happy with) but this way you end up writing hardly anything!
I had to keep telling myself, over and over like a mantra, that it will be better after the editing stage! Editing is the most satisfying stage because it is where you reap the rewards for all your previous effort. I designated at least three months to the editing stage and it was worth it for the end result.
I didn’t enjoy trying to get my book published through mainstream. The Agent and Publisher websites remind you in no uncertain terms that they have thousands of applicants and take on just a few. It felt like Mission impossible IV, or whatever number we are up to now. I knew that my cover letters and synopsis were good. I took time tailoring them to the individual Agent. But most submissions seemed to disappear into a black hole. I did receive some responses, and they were all appreciated. A few were personal with some really positive feedback but stating that unfortunately my genre did not fit.
After about five months I secured Mirador Publishing, which is an independent publisher. I did pay a small fee for the publicity and marketing of the book, but it was worth it to finally have my book in print. Once I secured a publisher the process was enjoyable and exciting.

How has the book fared so far?

Just a Bit of Banter, Like has very well received. Everybody who has read the book has enjoyed it. The biggest compliment is when readers enjoy my writing style, because that is the platform for everything. The biggest obstacle is getting read in the first place. I have been amazed by the number of authors competing for attention. Unless you are a recognised author or celebrity it is very difficult to generate interest. I have worked very hard at this, from having articles published about the book in the local newspaper and magazine to keeping in contact with other authors and readers on social media sites.
I think it is important to have a balance though, and again this can be difficult. Sometimes you need to know when to stop publicising your previous book and spend more time writing your next book!

Tell us about JUST A BIT OF BANTER, LIKE and its characters

The characters in Just a Bit of Banter, Like are crucial to everything. The twisting storyline and the surprise ending all goes to waste if the reader doesn’t care about the characters. I try to ensure my characters are rounded with personality traits readers recognise from everyday life. Den is the guy gifted with looks, intelligence and personality, and yet scratch the surface and none of this is really important to him. Nick lives this perfect life in London with a fancy job and fancy girlfriend and yet there is so much more to him than the superficial shell he hides under. Deep down, though, the central characters are all decent people and I hope the readers will them to do well.

Who are your influences?

My writing is inspired by writers such as Irvine Welsh, John King and JK Salinger. I read a wide variety of books not only for enjoyment but because I think you can pick up so many different things. Nowadays I definitely read as a writer. I observe how writers build up scenes, create tensions and develop tensions. I am also rather critical when they don’t do these things!

What are your current projects and ambitions?

At the moment I am working on the drafting stage of my next novel. Yes, the frustrating stage! I am keeping with the Welsh setting. This novel is based primarily in the depleted coal and steel community of Merthyr Tydfil and the seaside resort of Porthcawl. It covers different eras, from the 60’s to present day. I love modern history, and so the research side both fascinating and challenging. Although I am working hard on the story, I want it to be right, and I am not setting any timescale other than it will definitely be completed by the end of 2014!
I aim to be working on a novel at all times and, realistically for me that equates to about one novel per year. This year I plan to write some short stories, too, as I appreciate a year is a long time and I want to maintain interest in my writing. I will be spending some time creating and updating a website with details of the stories. I have short-term and long term aims. Long-term, I want to improve an aspect of my writing with every book and to keep building my readership. I would love to be on the bestsellers list but think it would be much better to write books I am proud of that is appreciated by a loyal readership.

 

Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives – Do characters all have to be super heroes, brave, unfallible and larger than life? Honouring realism and the right to be human by Christoph Fischer

We’re creating false illusions about heroism and unrealistic expectations about people.

What about representation and realism?

Don’t get me wrong. I love the fearless hero, too, I admire his actions and wish I could be like him. But I’m probably not going to live up to his standards, however hard I would like to do so.

Sometimes, however, I’m tired of watching or reading about the big-chested models and biceps-bulging machos with their super-powers who never fail and who can make the reader feel small and inadequate for being a regular human.

New Release: “20 Things I’ve Learned from My Patients” by Olga Nunez Miret #Newbook #Nuevolibro #Spanish-English/inglés-español

 My dear friend and respected colleague Olga Nunez Miret has released a new book:

20 Things I’ve Learned from My Patients. A Psychiatrist’s Pearls of Wisdom to Help You Thrive

By Dr. Olga Núñez Miret 

The description is, of course, bilingual as well:

Over the years that I have worked as a psychiatrist, writer, and blogger, I’ve collected common-sense advice and thoughts that I have passed on and shared with many (patients, friends, and readers). As people don’t have much time to read and enjoy images and quotes, I decided to publish twenty of the things I have learned over the years, illustrating each one of them with a picture and a quote. And as I know many people who want to improve their Spanish but don’t dare to take on a long book, I decided to publish it as a bilingual edition, English-Spanish. I don’t claim to have found the meaning of life, but I hope you enjoy this little book.

Durante mis años como psiquiatra, escritora y bloguera, he acumulado consejos y reflexiones de sentido común que he compartido con mucha gente, incluyendo pacientes, amigos y lectores. Como sé que la gente no tiene mucho tiempo para leer hoy en día, y les gusta compartir imágenes y citas, decidí publicar veinte de las cosas que he aprendido durante mi carrera, ilustrando cada una de ellas con una imagen y una cita. Conozco a muchas personas que quieren mejorar su inglés pero no se atreven a enfrentarse a un libro largo, así que decidí publicarlo en versión bilingüe, en inglés y español. No pretendo haber descubierto el sentido de la vida, pero espero que disfrutéis de este librito.

Here my dedication, so you understand what the subtitle refers to.

To my friend Iman, who is great at delivering accurate insights in a few words, and to Rose Upton, Sister at the A&E Department at Eastbourne DGH when I started training in Psychiatry. Her disparaging comments about her nurses’ pearls of wisdom, which Iman feedback to me at the time, have remained with me to this day. I suspect mine wouldn’t deserve a kinder opinion from her either.

And a couple of the images I’ve used (all royalty free from Unsplash, including the one I’ve used for the cover):

It is really short and, well, if you’ve read the description you know everything you need to know.

If you fancy a copy, let me know. They looked OK when I checked but images can be tricky (I’ll talk about that at some point).

It will become available in many other places, but so far you can find it here:

Amazon      KOBO    APPLE 

Thanks so much to all of you for reading and remember to like, share, comment, click and REVIEW!

Posted on November 26, 2017 by OlgaNunez

Hi all:

Those of you who follow my blog will know that this has been a bit of weird year, with new things (becoming an instructor at the University of the People), other things ending (volunteering at Penistone FM), pet sitting, weddings, and plans to move back to Spain. I’ve also been translating and proofreading translations of books and I’ve written a book that I’m not sure will see the light (at least not in its current form).

After writing that book I felt at a bit of an impasse and I’ve worked on other projects but I’m not sure which one I want to work on next (perhaps there are too many things going on). In the meantime, I’ve also been looking at some of the things I had written but not published. And after rereading a short file with some common sense advice, I wondered if it might make a tiny little book, with some quotes and pictures. And then, thinking about how many people I know who want to practice their Spanish (or their English), I thought I would try a bilingual edition. (Teaching English composition at the University of the People has made me think about language proficiency).

So here is my little book…

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Mystery Mondays: New Release: “RESTLESS EARTH” by @JohnDolanAuthor

Originally posted by Eden Baylee here: RESTLESS EARTH set to release in #NEW series by @JohnDolanAuthor

I couldn’t agree more with Eden about John Dolan, who’s been on my blog a few times, so while I wait to find time to read this new release, here’s what Eden has to say, plus an interview between Eden and John:

To say I’m a fan of John Dolan’s writing would be a gross understatement. He hooked me with his debut novel, Everyone Burns from his Time, Blood and Karma series, and I’ve been happily under his spell ever since.

Now, Mr. Dolan is embarking on a new series called Karma’s Children, with Restless Earth launching November 24th.

This latest book also pulls in elements from his first series.

Am I surprised?

No.

If you’ve read any of John’s first four books, you will know how twisty they can be. He’s proven himself a master of deception with a flair for unpredictable plots. He moves his characters from book to book like a chess player moves pieces across a board—carefully, with an eye for impending danger.

He’s also been known to sacrifice a few characters along the way, but I digress … 😉

I had the great pleasure of chatting with the author recently. Find out what he had to say about his writing, women, and life in general.

* * * *

Welcome John, and congratulations on the upcoming release of Restless Earth! This book is the first in a series called Karma’s Children. Can you tell us how this new series relates to Time, Blood and Karma? 

Good question, Eden. My original concept for the Time, Blood and Karma series was that it would run to seven books. However, the end of Book 4 (Running on Emptiness) was a natural watershed, so I decided to split the work into two series, with the second series starting with Restless Earth.The series title, Karma’s Children, was meant to invoke the first series, HOWEVER, I have constructed Restless Earth in such a way that those readers who are new to my writing can start with it, while those hardy souls who have ploughed through all four books in the first series will see it as picking up where Running on Emptinessleft off. I hope that makes sense. If it doesn’t, it’s too late now!

No, it makes perfect sense! It’s great that new readers can hop on board with Restless Earth even if they haven’t read your previous books. I am intrigued, however, by the blurb for the new book. It speaks of four different men but does not mention women at all. Are there any women in this book?

There decidedly are women in this book. In fact, it is the females – some of whom are ‘offstage’ – who are the main catalysts for much of what happens in the novel. As in my earlier books, there are a number of strong female characters in Restless Earth. The men absolutely do not get everything their own way. Quite the reverse. Just like in real life, eh? You ladies are really the ones in charge: we men are just stupid enough to believe our own propaganda.

Ha, I’m sure women are going to love this book then! I, for one, fell in love with David Braddock, your smart-talking, somewhat damaged detective from the Time, Blood and Karma novels. Can we expect another equally fascinating character in Restless Earth?

I’m flattered that you fell in love with Braddock, warts and all. He can be an irritating smarty-pants at times (much like his creator), but generally readers seem to root for him. However, to answer your question, Braddock himself returns – perhaps somewhat chastened by his earlier experiences – as do some of the characters from the earlier novels. But there are new characters too, of various nationalities, age and sex. As to how ‘fascinating’ they are, I will leave that to the readers to decide. You can, however, expect to encounter a certain amount of mystery, moral ambiguity and black humour in this book. If you are looking for a straightforward goodies vs. baddies story, you might struggle a bit. As it says in the publicity blurb for Restless Earth: “It’s not always easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. And sometimes, there are no good guys.” Real life is rarely black and white, in my experience, so if you want your fiction to reflect this aspect of reality, you need to mix up the black and white into shades of grey (though not fifty shades, perhaps!).

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, John. Your books are definitely not 50 shades of grey! Personally, I prefer my fiction a bit “messy” and true to life. That you treat readers as intelligent people who can think for themselves is what I appreciate most about your writing. 

Readers, please continue on to learn more about Restless Earth and special offers from the author. 

* * * *

PRE-ORDER NOW to get Restless Earth delivered to your Kindle November 24th! 

Available on Amazon Worldwide

“It’s not always easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys. And sometimes, there are no good guys.”

Four men scattered across the globe. . .
One seeks pleasure
One seeks purpose
One seeks redemption
And one seeks revenge.

A wind is howling around the skyscrapers of New York, through the battlefields of Iraq, and into the bustling streets of Bangkok. It carries with it the fates of these four men: men bound together by chance and history.
Which of them – if any – will survive the tempest?

The “Karma’s Children” series will appeal to lovers of the following book categories: mystery, thriller, crime, Thailand fiction, private investigators, British detectives, and amateur sleuths.

****

Special Offers from the Author

To celebrate the launch of Restless Earth Nov. 24th, John is offering several deals for readers.

From November 24-28, Mr. Dolan is offering:

1. A Poison Tree Kindle e-book FREE
2. Everyone Burns Kindle e-book at the reduced price of 99 cents (99p in the UK)
3. Jim Fosse’s Expense Claim (a Kindle e-book short story) remains FREE

As if this is not enough, John is also giving away 3 paperback copies of Restless Earth (US and UK only) on Goodreads. Hit the link below from Nov. 21-Dec. 31 to enter the giveaway!

From Nov. 21- Dec. 31

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Restless Earth

BY JOHN DOLAN

Giveaway ends December 31, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

From Nov. 24-28

FREE on: Amazon

***

Reduced price on: Amazon

***

FREE on: Amazon

* * * *

Thanks again for sharing of yourself, John, and for all the wonderful offers of your books. I wish you huge success with the new series, and I can’t wait to read Restless Earth!

Readers, be sure to connect to John at all his virtual homes. He’s a lovely man … really. Don’t let the hat fool you. 😉

Find all John’s books on:

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA

Website

Twitter @JohnDolanAuthor

Goodreads  | Facebook | Blog

“Makes a living by travelling, talking a lot and sometimes writing stuff down. Galericulate author, polymath and occasional smarty-pants.”

John Dolan hails from a small town in the North-East of England. Before turning to writing, his career encompassed law and finance. He has run businesses in Europe, South and Central America, Africa and Asia. He and his wife Fiona currently divide their time between the UK and Thailand.

His mystery novel ‘Everyone Burns’ is the first book in the ‘Time, Blood and Karma’ series.

Introducing the authors and speakers of the Llandeilo Christmas Book Fair Dec 9th: JAMES MORGAN-JONES

JAMES MORGAN-JONES – BIOGRAPHY 

 

James Morgan-Jones was born and brought up on the Essex/London borders. His mother was Welsh and his father from the East End. He trained as a professional actor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and worked for several years in the theatre. After a serious accident he retrained as a feline behaviourist and now lives in West Wales. He began writing seriously in 2008 after gaining an MA with Distinction from Trinity Saint David University in Carmarthen. In January 2016 he published his first collection of short stories, Lantern Light, writing as A J Morgan. He then embarked on The Glasswater Quintet, a series of supernatural mystery novels, linked by character and place but set in different decades, from the 1940s onwards. The first book in the series, On the Edge of Wild Water, was published in November 2016, with a second edition by Wordcatcher Publishing following in 2017. The second in the quintet, The Glass Citadel, was released

by Wordcatcher in October 2017.

www.jamesmorganjones.co.uk

‘ON THE EDGE OF WILD WATER’ – the first book in THE GLASSWATER QUINTET sequence.

‘In the glass, reflected light reared like a burning ship. Whispered words, with the urgency of intercession, opened a laceration in her brain. On the livid tissues behind were drawn the cramped dimensions of a dark, musty room…’

In extremis, the future will feed on the past.

Bethan is in the grip of a serious eating disorder. Taken to her late grandmother’s cottage in West Wales in a last-ditch attempt to tackle her illness, there she is beset by unsettling visions. History and place exert a powerful hold on her fragile sense of self.  Driven on by the revelations of a Victorian minister’s journal, her vivid psychic connection with a troubled boy and the ambivalent, enigmatic sway of the visitant Lydia, Bethan is plunged into a one hundred and sixty year-old tragedy as the material world and the voices of the dead collide. The force of a past not yet assuaged is unleashed, compelling Bethan and her parents to confront a seemingly unstoppable catastrophe of their own.

‘On the Edge of Wild Water’ can be ordered directly from the publisher at Wordcatcher.com or from Amazon.

The second gripping installment of the Glasswater Quintet – coming soon.

In its frosted chambers everyone is alone.

An abducted psychic reads the cards to preserve her sanity. In another part of the country, struggling to keep his family from disintegration and to deflect the lethal attentions of an East End gang, Luke is forced to flee his home.

In the long hot summer of 1976, these two strangers are connected in a way neither of them understands. Yet, as mounting obsession and the pursuit of violent revenge send events spiralling out of control, it becomes clear that their lives depend on a mutually-powered drive to prevail.

The cards offer both a line of communication and a tantalizing hint at salvation: Luke and Paige need to rely not only on their wits but on symbiotic faith and vision. Can the intangible ever be strong enough to deliver them – and those closest to them – from the forces of destruction?

Stunning Review for THE HEALER (Fraud or Miracle? Series Book 1)

via Stunning Review for THE HEALER

Since I completed the trilogy now with the release of “Sanctuary on Cayman Brac: Key to the truth” and the release of the “Fraud or Miracle?” Box Set I felt it time to dig out reviews for the first book in the series:

Here is a stunning and detailled review for the Healer:
“Because I’m a fairly prolific reader I stumble across quite a few gems on an annual basis. The Healer is among those fortunate finds and is on my shortlist of favorite books read over the last few years. Granted I’m a sucker for a tale that interweaves the spiritual and metaphysical with the earthly and mundane, but even if I weren’t, the excellent writing on display here would have sucked me in. 

Our heroine, suffering from Stage 4 cancer, having exhausted all that traditional medicine can do for her, finds herself at the mercy of a faith healer, a practitioner of alternative medicine, energy medicine and Qi Gong, Reiki, and much more. But his unique abilities go far beyond his adeptness with esoteric practices; he has the gift as it were. He presents as a guru type who is a lot more than mere hype, going from the well documented success stories working with people who were never suckers for New Age medicine. Quite the opposite. They were inclined like our heroine to be entirely skeptical and to have marched their way in and out of his care with an army of scientists to demonstrate that their incurable cancer had indeed been cured. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, it kinda is.

The mysterious figure who she entrusts her life to is a complex, not exactly trustworthy figure. He reminded me of the spiritual guide in the Carlos Castaneda books who can’t be taken at face value, and who may be willing to teach and heal as much through treachery, menace, misuse of power, and whatever other entirely Machiavellian measures he deems necessary. And he is a man of some ego, no shortage of moodiness. And if there is something larger than life about him, there’s also something all too painfully human about him, and not in a good way. In short, I wouldn’t want to have to trust my life to this guy. He’s quite scary. And his actual motivations for getting involved with her therapy are never entirely clear. Is he a noble ends-justifies-the-means kind of guy, capable of thus rationalizing his totally unsavory tactics? Or are his ends every bit as uninspiring as his means?

Only through reading the book and taking the heroine’s journey with her can you come to truly know the answers to these questions. And as you do just that, you experience the terror along with her, the emotional doubts and insecurities, the ups and downs, the kaleidoscope of emotions on display that is dealing with death and dying in a truly self-transformative way; a way that forces self-transcendence to some degree, win, lose, or draw. You begin to wonder early on if her anxiety attacks, the parade of misgivings and paranoid ideation are part of the intense healing of mind, body and spirit that can only be accomplished with total surrender to a spiritual master—as legends tell us. Or if they’re simply entirely sane reactions to this bizarre healer and her fears are entirely justified.

I’ve read quite a few books penned by spiritual masters, including an unusual Russian figure by the name of Gurdjieff, and P. D. Ouspensky, one of his disciples who wrote heavily about him. Students’ accounts of Gurdjieff and what it was like to deal with the man and the healer were quite similar to what our heroine undergoes with her faith healer. Does that mark him as the genuine article? Or just another nut case, to whom she’s just signed over all of her wealth and belongings? Once again, you just have to take the journey to find out, and very possibly, in taking it with her, you’ll be more than just fascinated, you’ll undergo some healing, some transformation, and some self-transcendence yourself. Which I think is very much the point in a novel of this sort.

One of the best-in-class books I’ve ever read in this sub-genre of spiritual fiction. That also goes for books on people dealing with cancer and or some other terminal illness, and struggling with the self-transformative process that implies. So, needless to say, highly recommended.

The Healer

When advertising executive Erica Whittaker is diagnosed with terminal cancer, western medicine fails her. The only hope left for her to survive is controversial healer Arpan. She locates the man whose touch could heal her but finds he has retired from the limelight and refuses to treat her.  Erica, consumed by stage four pancreatic cancer, is desperate and desperate people are no longer logical nor are they willing to take no for an answer. Arpan has retired for good reasons, casting more than the shadow of a doubt over his abilities. So begins a journey that will challenge them both as the past threatens to catch up with him as much as with her.  Can he really heal her? Can she trust him with her life? And will they both achieve what they set out to do before running out of time?

Amazon: http://smarturl.it/thehealerthriller

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23662030-the-healer

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/TheHealerNovelbyChristophFischer?ref=hl

Book-likes: http://booklikes.com/the-healer-christoph-fischer/book,12975746

Rifflebooks: https://read.rifflebooks.com/books/388235

Historical Saturdays Reblog: Why I Wrote “Sebastian”

via Why I Wrote “Sebastian” by Christoph Fischer

 

Here is an old blog post about my second book, SEBASTIAN, a few thoughts about what motivated me to write it and answers to Some questions I have been asked about the book.

“Sebastian” is the second book in my Three Nations Trilogy, a series on war torn Central Europe that focuses on how lives could be changed by politics and cultural and ethnic developments.
“The Luck of the Weissensteiners” was about a group of Jewish and Catholic people in Slovakia during WWII, “Sebastian” is about a family in Vienna around WWI. The stories are using similar themes but are not connected directly.
Sebastian is based on an idea I have always had of my grandfather when I was young. I unfortunately never met him because my grandfather had divorced my grandmother and lived with his new family on the other side of the Berlin Wall. None of us ever met them until the late Eighties, by which time my grandfather sadly had already passed on.
Like Sebastian in my book he lost his leg due to an accident, which is at the heart of “Sebastian”, a young man who has to come to terms with this loss, his responsibilities and the life in a time where great political and personal changes bring in a new era.
I already wrote about World War II in “The Luck of the Weissensteiners” and so I transferred the story to a different era. I had read and heard so much about that time and Vienna that it seemed the logical setting, particularly since it was described as a perfect place for Jews at the time, something that so often is referred to in literature that talks about the horrors that followed.

Sebastian is an interesting character. How did you come up with the idea of him?

As a gay man I was always fascinated and frightened by the ideals of ‘real’ men, strength and masculinity as their main attributes and the requirement to finding love. How could a man like my Sebastian find love? A friend of my father had a wooden leg and I was scared stiff of it when I was younger. Much later did I learn about my grandfather’s wooden leg. I was astonished to hear that my grandfather had divorced my grandmother and had easily re-married.
Unfortunately I was able to learned only a little about my grandfather and his life from my aunt. Much of the details she gave me about his life and his rather philosophical and wonderful outlook on life have found their way into the actual grandfather figure in my book, Oscar, who becomes Sebastian’s best friend in my story and who helps him to find the right attitude.

Did you have difficulties to decide as how to portray a disabled boy?

Myself, I was not the strongest and sportiest of children and that probably leaked into Sebastian’s character as well. Expectations of what a man is supposed to be like and so on, all that feeds into his own journey of finding self-worth and confidence, something most of my characters in Sebastian have to struggle with, not just Sebastian. I did not mean to picture him as a victim; In those days as much as today many genuinely disadvantaged people try extra hard to compensate instead of looking after themselves properly. I wanted to show how strong and determined these people can be, that is why in his family almost everyone has an ailment of sorts, leaving him the strongest of the weak bunch.

What is your message with this book?

That is difficult to pinpoint, but I will try a few central themes:
Always be the best that you can.
Never settle for being second best.
Love and be loved for the right reasons.

Why did you set the second part of your Trilogy back in time to Vienna?

It has often been said that Vienna before the war was a golden era, for Jews and for Austrians. Especially during my research for “The Luck of the Weissensteiners” I came across many such statements and I wanted to clarify that myself, so I read a lot about it.

The other reason was that the themes in the first book are often seen as a consequence of the times during which Sebastian is set. I realised how much I still had to learn about the times and delved into research. Since I had mentioned the consequences of the Habsburg Monarchy and the end of World War I already in “The Luck of the Weissensteiners” I did not need to repeat myself and go into the political aftermath but could stay focused on how society and life in general was changing in Vienna, which enabled me to make Sebastian the second instalment.
Knowing what would become of Austria a mere 20 years later made me feel for my characters, who at that stage did not know anything about their future or the future of their newly formed country.

Now we are at the concept of Nations, the title of your trilogy. Can you tell us about the idea behind that trilogy?

In “The Luck of the Weissensteiners” I am doing a close up of one particularly affected country, Czechoslovakia and splitting from it, Slovakia. Even in that small new nation there are various ethnic groups, hinting at the difficulty to choose and defining a valid border with the many historic changes that have affected Central Europe over the decades and centuries even. The National Idea, taken to the extreme by Hitler, can destroy everything and everyone to the point that we see how ridiculous and meaningless such concepts can become in the face of human suffering.
In Sebastian I am going back a step to a time when forcefully Nations were glued together with politics and force, despite their natural force to drift apart. The fall of Habsburg to me is a symbol for the infeasibility of forcing nations against their will and that the movement was born from a legitimate human desire for self-rule.
In both books the political changes affect the people and in both books the characters overcome the barriers in their own ways and form their own leagues and bonds.

Why is this so fascinating to you?

I don’t think I am Nationalist of any kind but I am probably a little sensitised to the issue.
I was raised in Bavaria but thanks to my father I had a different accent than the local Bavarian. I was singled out for it and queried about my origins almost on a daily basis because I did not fit in linguistically. Refugees from the Sudetenland were occasionally called foreigners and I learned soon what it felt like to be different even when you did not receive discriminatory behaviour.
I was ready to leave for Hamburg, the North where they spoke ‘proper’ German, but to them I was clearly from the South and I wasn’t quite home there either.Now I live in the UK as a German, half my life spent as a different type of alien.
I have always been confronted with stereotypes and the concept of being different, based on place of birth and language and have examined why neither place or Nation has managed to make me feel part of it.

Here are some quotes from the six 5 STAR Reviews so far:

a marvellous and well-crafted story about the trials and tribulations of one family, about loyalty, about human failings, and the inner strength it takes to get through difficult times.

won’t be easily or readily forgotten

pulls the reader in, pulls at our heart strings, and keeps us glued to the page

Would I read it again – Yes
Plot – Well organised and developed, keeps you interested
Characters – Funny, intriguing, excellently developed
Movie Potential – Yes
Ease of reading – Very easy to read and enjoy

Links:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Sebastian-Three-Nations-Trilogy-2/dp/1484156005/

Kindle edition http://www.amazon.com/Sebastian-Three-Nations-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00CLL1UY6

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sebastian-2-Three-Nations-Trilogy/dp/1484156005/

Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sebastian-Three-Nations-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00CLL1UY6

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17834808-sebastian

Historical Saturday Review: “The Lyon Affair: A French Resistance Novel” by Ellie Midwood

“The Lyon Affair: A French Resistance Novel” by Ellie Midwood is yet another page-turner with a lot of plot turns and twists. The author is truly gifted in surprising and fooling this old reader.
The story follows a cell of resistance fighters and several other characters in Lyon of 1940. It is as much as historical novel with attention to authentic detail as it is a thriller that really keeps you guessing.
The characters are fleshed out and populate a rich plot, making for an engaging and gripping read. I personally can’t get enough of WW2 fiction and this is one not to be missed.

Blurb:

For fans of “The Nightingale” and “All The Light We Cannot See”

“The Lyon Affair” – book two in ‘The Indigo Rebels’ series

A late diplomat’s son with a brilliant mind;
A Catholic priest with a dark past;
A young woman scorned by her fellow countrymen for her German heritage;
A young man who has just escaped the clutches of the ruthless Gestapo.
A tentative partnership created to fight against the common enemy, where the secrets of their pasts lead to disaster, and a betrayal of one may become a death sentence to all.

An unlikely hero…
A cunning villain…

One Resistance cell.
One traitor in their midst.

When the Gestapo is closing in, and there’s nowhere else to run, one will make a decision that could change everything.

A riveting French Resistance novel.

Biography

Ellie Midwood is an award-winning, best-selling historical fiction writer. She’s a health obsessed yoga enthusiast, a neat freak, an adventurer, Nazi Germany history expert, polyglot, philosopher, a proud Jew and a doggie mama.
Ellie lives in New York with her fiancé and their Chihuahua named Shark Bait.Readers’ Favorite – winner in the Historical fiction category (2016) – “The Girl from Berlin: Standartenfuhrer’s Wife” (first place)
Readers’ Favorite – winner in the Historical fiction category (2016) – “The Austrian” (honorable mention)New Apple – 2016 Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing – “The Austrian” (official selection)

Walking Over Eggshells: Surviving Mental Abuse

A great review of a great book about growing up and living with mental abuse

LITERARY TITAN

Walking Over Eggshells: Surviving Mental Abuse by Lucinda Clarke is an autobiography where she has changed all the names to protect the innocent and guilty. The novel is about Lucinda’s life and how she survived growing up and living with mental abuse. Lucinda’s mom had narcissistic personality disorder, and this impacted her entire life. She uses this novel to show that despite growing up with this abuse she still lived a life full of adventure, had a family and eventually had a successful career. You will laugh at some of the stories, cry at others, and be outright shocked by many and wonder how this girl survived to write this. Through it all Lucinda was able to grow and keep up with the times, she was born in the 1950’s and has had to adapt with a drastically changing society while continuing to endure the mental abuse of her mother…

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