A huge thank you to Christoph Fischer for featuring me on his blog today. 🙂 xxx
My review of The Lady of the Pier – The Ebb (The Lady of the Pier, #1) – Effrosyni Moschoudi
Goodreads Synopsis:
When Sofia falls in love, a mourning spirit begins to haunt her…
CORFU, GREECE, 1987
On a long holiday with her grandparents, Sofia Aspioti meets Danny Markson, a charming flirt who makes her laugh. Although she tries to keep him at arm’s length, worried that village gossip will get back to her strict family, she falls desperately in love. That’s when strange dreams about Brighton’s West Pier and a woman dressed in black begin to haunt her. Who is this grieving woman? And how is her lament related to Sofia’s feelings for Danny?
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, 1937
Dreaming of wealth and happiness, Laura Mayfield arrives in Brighton to pursue a new life. She falls for Christian Searle, a happy-go-lucky stagehand at the West Pier theatre, but when she’s offered a chance to perform there, her love for him is put to the test. Charles Willard, a wealthy aristocrat, is fascinated by her and pursues her relentlessly. Will Laura choose love…or money?
My review:
I enjoyed The Lady of The Pier – The Ebb and would recommend this novel to romance enthusiasts and readers who love stories set in different locations, time periods and cultures. The Lady of The Pier tells the story of two young girls Sophia and Laura in two contrasting settings and time periods – Greece in 1987 and Brighton, England in 1937. Both locations appealed to me and were my initial encouragement for reading Effronsyni’s book – a dual narrative love story (with elements of paranormal fantasy,) of young lovers Laura and Christian, Sofia and Danny.
I have spent many happy holidays in Greece and Brighton, and Effrosyni’s writing transported me to both settings making me feel immersed in these young girls lives almost like I was on holiday myself! The Lady of The Pier is a sweet story with an intriguing ending. I smiled when I read the important little details that the author added to suggest the close relationship between Sofia and her Greek grandparents. And the dreams of the strange lady in black who walks the West Pier in Brighton really captured my attention too. Equally, the relationships and love stories in both Brighton and Greece were engaging to read and I’m sure that there will be much to keep the reader entertained.
I’m looking forward to reading Book two and finding out how the next part of the story unfolds.
From reading #1 I suggest you give this book a read. There is much to recommend it – lovely characters, believable dialogue, a real sense of place and wonderful poetry too! I believe the second book in the series is “The Flow,” and the third book in the series is: “The Storm.”
My rating: 4 stars, a heart-warming romantic read ideal for taking on holiday!
***
Author bio from her website: http://effrosyniwrites.com/
Effrosyni Moschoudi was born and raised in Athens, Greece. As a child, she loved to sit alone in her garden scribbling rhymes about flowers, butterflies and ants. Today, she writes novels for people who love all things Greek. Her historical romance, The Ebb, is an ABNA Q-Finalist. Her novels are Amazon bestsellers, having hit #1 several times, and are available in kindle and paperback format. The paperbacks can be ordered on Amazon or at any bookstore or library.
Effrosyni lives in a quaint seaside town near Athens with her husband Andy and a naughty cat called Felix, but her mind forever drifts to her beloved island of Corfu.
Felix loves to use her pot plants as lounge chairs, and to nap under the sun in ridiculous poses.
Pop over to Effrosyni’s lovely blog home to find out more: http://effrosyniwrites.com/books/the-lady-of-the-pier-the-ebb/
DISCLAIMER: “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.”
My opinions are my own and any reviews on this site have not been swayed or altered in any way by monetary compensation, or by the offer of a free book in exchange for a review.
This particular book is a verified Amazon purchase
Buying links:
UK kindle version: http://amzn.to/2jutCZm
UK kindle 3 book series: http://amzn.to/2jwsc0G
Have you read The Lady of The Pier? Or Effronsyni’s other titles? – The Necklace of Goddess Athena, Poetry From The Lady of The Pier, or her new release The Amulet?
Bye for now, happy reading!
Fellow members of my Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club #ABRSC on Facebook:
Myself, Colleen Chesebro and Debby Gies, click on our photos to be directed to our blogs!
My Twitter: @marjorie_mallon and @curseof_time
Launch Party!!!! The Curse of Time #1 Bloodstone – Kindle E-Book
At last! It’s my launch party today for my kindle e-book and I can’t believe it – I am beyond thrilled.
Welcome!
Come in and let me share with you some news.
I’ve been keeping a very special piece of art tucked away to reveal to you today!
It’s a wonderful portrait that Carolina Russo of Yesterday After created for me of my character Esme.
What are your impressions of Esme? The tears in her eyes convey her sadness but the golden hair of the mysterious girl facing her (no spoilers!) is bright and vibrant, suggesting hope. Carolina has done an amazing job, I can’t thank her enough for all her hard work in creating this stunning artwork for me. Collaborations makes me so happy. That is why I love writing and blogging so much. I would never have ‘met’ Carolina otherwise. It’s so wonderful to be able to collaborate with talented and creative individuals like Carolina who live so far away.
More news! Tina Fotherby at Famous Publicity is in the process of arranging a meeting between little old me and the inventor of the Corpus Christi clock, http://www.johnctaylor.com/the-chronophage/
Isn’t that beyond awesome? I am speechless. Dr John C. Taylor has been so generous, allowing me to use images of his incredible creation The Corpus Christi Chronopage on my social media and my book cover.
Look at a close up of this bug of a fellow below… (courtesy of Dr. John C Taylor) – My interview with The Grasshopper – The Curse of Time
I am very fortunate to have such a creative younger daughter, Georgina who has done an amazing job of photographing two models depicting my two main characters – Amelina, and Ryder.
Amelina – modelled by Elise Hackney
Ryder – modelled by Joseph English.
I have had the joy of collaborating with https://samanthamurdochblog.wordpress.com/ Samantha happens to have a black cat supermodel Lily who looks just like the black cat Shadow in my book.
Isn’t Lily amazing?
Samantha loves crystals and so do I! Her son Alex Marlowe took this stunning photo of a Bloodstone crystal that features on the spine of my paperback (the paperback is still to be released.)
I can’t thank my good friend Colleen Chesebro enough for all her kindness. She started off beta reading and then took me under her fairy wings to do a full scale edit. Thanks also to my beta readers – blogging friend Graeme Cumming – first draft beta reader and my eldest daughter Natasha Mallon for all her help too.
Below are the links to the kindle e-book – The Curse of Time – #1 Bloodstone.
If you’d like to leave a review, I’d be thrilled if you would.
So let’s get in party mode, perhaps have a drink or two…
Whatever your tipple…
or a cup of very special tea?
Perhaps a cake? Ritu at But I Smile Anyway is a legendary baker, hint, hint… xxx
A big thank you to all my lovely friends who have featured me on their blogs leading up to the book launch and those who will be featuring me, thereafter. Your support and help mean so much.
Features and Excerpts to date:
An early introduction by my good friend Vashti – https://vashtiqvega.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/spotlight-m-j-mallon-author/
Plus Dan with his pre-author Q and A: https://danalatorre.com/2017/05/08/author-profile-23-questions-with-marje-from-kyrosmagica/
Many thanks to Sheila – https://scskillman.com/2017/08/22/the-curse-of-time-a-guest-post-by-m-j-mallon-author-of-the-curse-of-time-book-1-bloodstone/
My mate Beaton – https://becomingthemuse.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/of-a-book-tour-the-curse-of-time/
Warm-hearted Marcia – https://marciameara.wordpress.com/2017/08/05/excerptweek-the-curse-of-time-by-marjorie-mallon/
Huge supporter of authors Sally Chronin, who really has been sharing my new book so widely I can’t thank her enough. Here is one such example: – https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2017/08/01/sallys-cafe-and-bookstore-new-on-the-shelves-the-curse-of-time-by-m-j-mallon/
Today’s special release day post by Allan Hudson at South Branch Scribbler: http://allanhudson.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/guest-author-marjorie-mallon-of-england.html
Author Spotlights on the subject of Self-Harm:
A big thank you and hug to Adele – https://firefly465.wordpress.com/2017/08/09/marjorie-mallon-curse-of-time-1-the-bloodstone/
Another hug to Christy Birmingham – https://whenwomeninspire.com/2017/08/21/self-harm-fiction-writing-guest-post/
Author Guest Posts with Poetry as a theme:
A big thank you to Charli – https://carrotranch.com/2017/08/22/raw-literature-haiku-tanka-and-a-debut-novel/
And fellow Scot Seumas who like me has a fondness for the Far East, and has a way with words! Such a charming fellow – https://seumasgallacher.com/2017/08/22/marjorie-mallon-poet-and-authoress-extraordinaire-come-be-entranced/
My lovely friend Ritu shared my jokey piece of poetry about inspiration – https://butismileanyway.com/2017/08/25/marjorie-mallon-poetic-inspiration-thecurseoftime-blogtour-author/
My original story written about friendship, rainbows and crystals shared via my very special friend Colleen who has helped me so much I can’t begin to thank her enough: http://colleenchesebro.com/2017/08/24/fairies-myths-magic-author-spotlight-guest-posts-rainbow-child-by-mj-mallon/
Some of the posts that I’ve already started planning that will be forthcoming after the release and in September/October 2017: Chris Graham at The Story Reading Ape, (inspiration,) Sacha Black (my marketing plans,) my fellow rainbow girl Debby Gies – D G Kaye Writer (a question and Answer post,) the huggable Hugh at Hughs Views and News, Eloise De Sousa, Helen Jones at Journey To Ambeth, Gloria McBreen at We Are Holistic, and Esmé at Cook and Enjoy, etc.
UPDATE: Since the release on 26th August, thank you to: Christoph Fischer for his post on 29th August.
Thank you for all the reblogs, kind comments, and to the lovely bloggers who have been so supportive to me, I can’t thank you enough.
Particular thanks goes to Amalia at Aquileana for being so kind and sending me a personal message of support.
So no more waffle.
It’s time to PARTYYYYYY!!!!!!! Come and add your links, comments, photos, thoughts, music, (we need a play list!)
Join the fun here and on my Facebook Party and Instagram!
Launch Party Playlist:
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTS: INSPIRATION – Trent P. McDonald
Today it is my pleasure to welcome Trent to my blog.
Here’s Trent’s take on inspiration. It’s fascinating …. I’m a dreamer too – I expect a lot of writers are – enjoy!
OK, I’ll admit it, I’m a dreamer. Not just any old dreamer, but a daydreamer. More than that, a daydreamer with an insatiable appetite to learn all there is to know about the world around me.
Typically, when we think of a daydream, we imagine someone dreaming about what they’d do if they won the Lotto, or found the perfect person as a mate, or made a great scientific discovery, or got a huge promotion, or… you get the point: people think of daydreams as improbable fantasies about the dreamer’s future.
Not me. (At least not always )
What if this legend is actually true, or if there is a basis in fact for that myth? What if, just beyond that latest scientific discovery that was recently announced, there is a deeper, more disturbing truth? What if I could see what you are thinking?
What if magic is real?
I am constantly on the move. I don’t have a Fitbit because I’m not concerned about the number of steps I do. Walking with people who do 10,000 a day, I know I do far more, at least if I include running.
There is something about walking that makes the creative juices flow. When I was in school and hit an impossible problem, I would just go take a walk and my subconscious would answer it. When I’ve researched some new discovery, or some ancient one that I recently decided to study, a walk makes me think about the topic. Thinking, of course, as I said above, leads to daydreaming.
And I’m a dreamer. A daydreamer.
Do all of my ideas for stories come this way, from a long walk? Of course not. I really enjoy prompts and typically write two flash fiction pieces a week. I think of doing the prompts as exercising my story writing muscles. Beyond the prompts, sometimes a complete storyline just appears in my head out of nowhere. And once I even had the idea for a book from a (real, night) dream (The Halley Branch, which will be the next book I publish). But typically, a longer, more involved work will be written in a series of walks.
A good example of that would be my book The Fireborn. It was born by just the type of daydreaming on a walk described above. I was thinking of history and myth and suddenly something gelled. I had a perfect storyline. As these ideas grew deeper and deeper, I realized I had a book on my hands, not just a short story. Over the next month, before I wrote a single word on “paper” (or electrons), I wrote the entire book in my head. Every time I’d leave the house, I’d pick up on The Fireborn just where I left off. Sure, I changed quite a bit once I started actually dictating it to myself and writing it out, but all of the main ideas were there.
In my opinion, anything and everything can be the source of inspiration for a daydreamer. There is nothing too large or too small. A word, a phrase, a photo or a drawing can often bring out an idea. Sometimes it’s a song, or even just a sound.
I started this blog almost four years ago mostly as a place to promote The Fireborn (I know, it took long enough for me to break down and publish it). Since then I have posted almost 500 works of fiction, from 100-word micro-stories to 8,000-word short stories. I have put up three serialized novels and am working on a fourth. They were all written because I am a dreamer. A daydreamer.
You can catch some of these dreams in my book of short stories Seasons of Imagination. And, of course, there is the longer daydream that I recently put out, The Fireborn.
I hope you enjoy my little daydreams!
Continue reading “AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTS: INSPIRATION – Trent P. McDonald”
Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 47 – #Haiku #Tanka #Haibun: Shadow & Light
This is a perfect poetry prompt for me as I love to explore shadows and light in my writing.
Here’s an extract from The Curse of Time – Book 1 – Bloodstone followed by my Tanka.
The evening descended, and darkness filled my room. I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned, but the stagnant dead air in the house tightened around my neck choking me. I slipped out of bed and opened a window. It made no difference. Feeling anxious, I noticed a deep sensation of dread forcing its way into my soul.
I often heard strange grumbling voices and laboured breathing coming from the walls of our silent house, speaking in unison, ‘Cursed house, dreadful misfortune.’ Tonight, no difference awaited me. Those weird sounds seemed to reverberate from the cramped attic room at the top of the house, right down to the ground floor. The hexagonal hallway grumbled as I heard six whispered voices that unified into one loud, persistent groan that amplified, filling the hall with the same repeated words.
I wrestled with alternating tiredness and wakefulness, pushing the sounds away, I fell into a deep sleep. I dreamed. A vision formed and I could see the pathway ahead lay deserted, not a soul in sight. The dead of night beckoned, and an eerie silence magnified every rustle and quadrupled every whisper in the breeze. The gentle sound of trickling water soothed my disturbed senses, but I couldn’t find the source. I fought a strange feeling that someone followed me. Yet, when I glanced over my shoulder, no one seemed to be there. No footprints, no churned-up earth, nothing. I walked faster, but my steps lagged, like a clock pendulum moving back and forth on a predetermined journey, yet moving in slow motion.
As my dream continued, the whispering winds grew louder. I forced myself to turn around and confront my growing fear. I saw the shadow of a man, and he was following me. Disconcerted, I tried to run and stumbled; as if this shadowy man’s long limbs were reaching forward to trip me up. Just when I couldn’t take another step, the winds stopped. The shadow revealed itself in a flash of light and vanished. My eyes blinked, captivated by blue-black hair, but I couldn’t see his face. I stood transfixed by a bright light followed by an immediate darkness.
© Marjorie Mallon 2017
Continue reading “Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 47 – #Haiku #Tanka #Haibun: Shadow & Light”
MJ Interviews Amelina – The Curse of Time – Bloodstone #SundayBlogShare
Today, it is a great pleasure to introduce you to the image of my main character – Amelina, modelled here by ….. my daughter’s friend Elise Hackney.
Today, I am interviewing using my author nickname MJ, tribute to my favourite superhero Spiderman’s Mary Jane.
MJ: It’s a pleasure to talk to you about your role in The Curse of Time – Book 1 – Bloodstone.
Amelina: Thanks for the invite.
MJ: So who is Amelina in The Curse of Time?
Amelina: I’m a teenage girl stuck in the worse situation. My life sucks in a spectacularly non-normal way.
MJ: Sorry to hear that, I didn’t set out to write your character into such grief. It just happened.
We pause for a moment lost in our thoughts.
MJ: What’s your thoughts on my creative process?
Amelina: I think you must have had an odd turn! Or, you’d been guzzling a crate of booze the night before. Who knows? One morning you jumped out of bed and a bunch of ludicrous ideas poured out of you. An unstoppable, unstructured fountain of crazy unleashed imagination.
MJ: Ha ha! That’s so true it hurts! I became Obsessive, didn’t I? You know like in the kids books… Forget about Little Miss Bossy, or Little Miss Chatterbox, I became Little Miss Obsessive!
Amelina: Yeah, you became a first rate burn the kids dinner mum. Not just that, you were hell bent on listening to your teenage daughters and their unsuspecting friends to get ideas for dialogue. You’re the noisiest person on this planet, a total eavesdropping ninja.
MJ: Guilty as charged! My daughter accused me of that recently. In fact, she begged me to be scarce if her friends come round! Can you imagine? I’m such an embarrassment.
I laugh, and Amelina rolls her eyes.
MJ: Tell us about your life…
Amelina: Oh, do I have to? Sigh. My life sucks. My day to day existence has changed and not in a good way. Forget the standard tribulations of the nuclear family. Our family is peculiar. We are four humans, one cat, and a house that behaves like a demented being. My dad has undergone some weird time shift, (no spoilers,) my mum is miserable, (and it’s not just menopausal hot flushes and night sweats.) Then, there’s this girl called Esme (a sister of sorts with an impressive lot of problems,) who lives with us in captivity and a weird black cat who visited and never left.
MJ: Sounds like some household! I must have been on the super strength vino to come up with that!
Amelina: Ha ha. Yeah, you must! It really is on a par with the Addams Family without the horror aspect. I swear even the foundations of our house are freaked out by our weirdness.
MJ: It can’t be all trauma and escalating problems, please tell me there are some positives?
Amelina: Yeah. I hang out with my friends, play music, write songs, do creative stuff: I write poetry, paint, collect crystals… (no spoilers!)
MJ: Crystals play a huge part in the novel, could you tell me a little about that?
Amelina: Yeah, crystals were the starting point for the novel. The huge inspiration – encouraged by Jupiter Artland – The Crystal Grotto by Anya Gallaccio. The novel was originally entitled The Krystallos Cottage – from Krystallos in the Greek meaning Crystal. Then, to keep it simple it became The Crystal Cottage. Then, time winged its merry dance into it and the story changed. That’s when the title of the novel changed to The Curse of Time. The Curse of Time became a series, with The Curse of Time – Book 1 – Bloodstone, followed by (the unedited – still to be released) The Curse of Time – Book 2 – Golden Healer.
MJ: That’s a lot of changes! But one special ingredient remained throughout the creative process. Magic. What part does that play in the novel?
Amelina: A huge part. When the promise of magic came, a sense of much needed hope started to grow, but with light and hope there is always opposing darkness.
MJ: Opposing darkness, that sounds exciting… I’m drawn to the dark side! Ha ha…
Amelina: Yeah, it’s a yin and yang, opposites kind of story. There’s light and darkness, seriousness and humour, deception and truth, various themes which appear throughout the novel. Oh, and there’s a touch of romance too, but not in a conventional way, The Curse of Time avoids boring love triangles or instant love. This story digs deeper than that.
MJ: I’ve heard there’s a cute guy in the novel?
Amelina: Oh, yes. Perhaps two, depends on your type! Kyle is fair, Ryder’s dark…
MJ: And friends?
Amelina: It’s strong on friendships, but jealousies play a part too.
MJ: It sounds such a mix. What an extraordinary amount of themes!
Amelina: Masses. Time plays a huge part, as do crystals representing light, shadows, (darkness) and deception.
MJ: I believe there’s scope for so much more – in book two?
Amelina: There might even be a Book three. This story has a long way to go. Time is ticking… and where it will end – who knows?
MJ: Thank you for accepting my invitation to talk to my readers about The Curse of Time. You are my first character, my principal leading lady, the starting point. I love Ryder, Shadow, the Grasshopper and the subsidiary characters too but they came into being after you. So dear Amelina you mean a lot to me.
Amelina: Aww, thanks! No problem.
MJ: I mustn’t keep you. You’ve been a very helpful interviewee, I can’t say the same about Ryder.
Amelina: Huh, no surprise there!
MJ: Ryder has become one of my favourite characters too. Somehow he has that effect on people. But, he’s difficult to figure out.
Amelina: Yeah, I get that, he’s fit as can be but he’s a mystery.
MJ: Never a truer word said.
Hope you enjoyed my latest character interview, find out more about my other characters here:
https://mjmallon.com/2017/07/02/mj-interviews-ryder-the-curse-of-time-bloodstone/
https://mjmallon.com/2017/05/11/my-interview-with-shadow-a-black-cat-character-with-a-past/
https://mjmallon.com/2017/07/23/sundayblogshare-mj-interviews-the-grasshopper-the-curse-of-time/
Photos courtesy of:
Dr John C Taylor OBE – photographs of chronopage and grasshopper.
Georgina Mallon – photographs of female model E. Hackney posing as Amelina, male model, J. English posing as Ryder.
Alex Marlowe, via https//samanthamurdochblog.wordpress.com – bloodstone crystal, and black cat model Lily – my character Shadow.
Don’t forget to pop over to my launch party on 26th August here on my blog, Facebook, and social media. Can’t wait!
Bye for now, time to hang out on my crystal chandelier….
My social media hang outs:
Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club
Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon
Twitter: @curseof_time
Instagram
Tumblr
Fellow Administrators of our Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club #ABRSC on Facebook, myself, my good friends Colleen Chesebro and Debby Gies.
