I had an amazing day at the Bloggers Bash, it was wonderful to meet up with old friends and make some new ones too. Ritu at But I Smile Anyway was the deserved winner of the Best Overall Blog, so to honour her wonderful accomplishment I’m reblogging her post.
Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 36 – HAPPY & SAD
This week’s prompt words are Happy and Sad, very appropriate given the situation in the world at the moment. It seems that humanity is doomed to live in a state of happiness one minute and sadness the next. So, to try to lift our spirits I’d like to share with you some happy photos from Strawberry Fair.
Our friends Richard and Catherine…
and my husband David and I….
There are also some videos on my Instagram:
My husband, and our friends were probably the oldest dudes in the music tent joining in the fun! But, the youngsters didn’t seem to mind, everyone was just having fun, forgetting their troubles.
To join in with Colleen’s poetry challenge follow the link: https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/06/06/colleens-weekly-poetry-challenge-36-happy-sad/
Bye for now, much love…
My social media hang outs:
My New Facebook club : Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club
Twitter: @marjorie_mallon
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Meet The Bloggers Who Are Attending The Third Annual Bloggers Bash #BloggersBash
Source: Meet The Bloggers Who Are Attending The Third Annual Bloggers Bash #BloggersBash
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195 Powerful Verbs That’ll Instantly Spice Up Your Writing
Powerful verbs to use in your writing reblog from Colleen Chesebro Source: Jerry Jenkins.
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Help! Do I Really NEED an ISBN?
Excellent post about ISBN’s, the free or paid versions via Just Can’t Help.Writing
As I was finishing up my posts on how to format your own Print-on-Demand book interior using InDesign, I reached the point where I found myself writing about copyright pages and ISBNs. I wrote confidently, “You must have an ISBN.” In a recent post, I recounted my own experience buying an ISBN for my paperback copy of King of the Roses and my upcoming publication of a POD version of Blood Lies.
But a query from a reader triggered research that suggested that my advice might be a little too simplistic. I found arguments that seemed to undercut that that screaming need for an ISBN.
Those posts inspired me to look a little more carefully into the question. In this post, I’ll explain what I’ve gathered from searching out a range of opinions.
My research suggests that if you were publishing only digitally, as of this writing, you WON’T…
View original post 1,731 more words
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My Review of 13 Steps To Evil – How to Craft Superbad Villians by Sacha Black
Goodreads Synopsis:
Your hero is not the most important character in your book. Your villain is.
Are you fed up of drowning in two-dimensional villains? Frustrated with creating clichés? And failing to get your reader to root for your villain?
In 13 Steps to Evil, you’ll discover:
How to develop a villain’s mindset
A step-by-step guide to creating your villain from the ground up
Why getting to the core of a villain’s personality is essential to make them credible
What pitfalls and clichés to avoid as well as the tropes your story needs
Finally, there is a comprehensive writing guide to help you create superbad villains. Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned writer, this book will help power up your bad guy and give them that extra edge.
These lessons will help you master and control your villainous minions, navigate and gain the perfect balance of good and evil, as well as strengthening your villain to give your story the tension and punch it needs.
If you like dark humour, learning through examples and want to create the best villains you can, then you’ll love Sacha Black’s guide to crafting superbad villains. Read 13 steps to evil today and start creating kick ass villains.
My review:
Confession time. No, it’s nothing to do with my prison record, or my descent into villainy. It’s simply this – I’m pretty lazy about reading books about writing – but Sacha Black’s 13 Steps To Evil has completely changed my mind! What a fantastic kick ass little book! I wish I’d read a copy years ago.
It’s a detailed resource, which informs and entertains in an illuminating, and humorous way. There are so many excellent examples that I am giddy with the potential for villains. The mental health section is handled with great sensitivity (one of my characters self-harms, so I read this with considerable interest,) and I was also fascinated by the detail on narcissistic personality disorder too.
Sacha’s extensive knowledge of villains prompts me to ask….. Is Sacha a secret villain? Or has she been hanging out with dodgy characters? The mind boggles. No, none of these apply… at least I don’t think so! Sacha Black has done her research, and it shows. She studied Psychology to 1st Class Degree level and thereafter completed Masters in Research Methods in Cognitive Neuropsychology. She has also spent an exorbitant amount of time watching villainous films, (from a tender age,) and has read tonnes of books, and absorbed popular culture like a sponge. Where does this woman get her energy? I am in awe, totally star-stuck… or should I say villain struck!
My recommendation: 5 stars. Get a copy now and write a review. Share the love!
Check out the current Blog Tour hosts….
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.
Buy Links: http://books2read.com/13stepstoevil
Let’s hit the books!!
My social media hang outs:
Twitter: @marjorie_mallon
My New Facebook club : Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club
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Villains: A Guest Post by Sacha Black, Author of 13 Steps to Evil
Time to get your evil on…. Sacha Black’s 13 Steps to Evil is here. I’m reading it and I know you will want to too. Find out all about villains and those blog tour hosts… I shall be reviewing soon on Kyrosmagica so keep an eye out for that. 🙂
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Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 35 – PAST & FUTURE
I had a disturbed sleep last night waking up at 5am. I managed to get back to sleep and awoke again at 7am. I checked my twitter feed and discovered the horrifying news about the terrorist attack in Manchester. I cried. I couldn’t cope with the sad news about another attack especially one which struck at our young people. This is cruel, beyond comprehension. I contemplated the morning and realised how beautiful a day it was. A single bird remained atop a tree, not moving so I picked up my mobile phone and captured it. Seconds later it flew away. If only those young people could have flown away. If only that man hadn’t done what he did.
How ironic. The sun shone, but how could this be? How are we to continue when such atrocities happen? I suppose the answer is we have no choice; we have to, or the terrorists will win. So, I wiped my tears and tried to do something positive. I went for a walk. I hadn’t planned to take photos, but I did. I’m sharing these at the end of my post, as a way to heal heartache. Life has to go on, but sometimes (being a parent,) you can’t help but feel the pain of such a devastating loss. To lose a child. This shouldn’t happen. Ever.
So today I am dedicating my Tanka to all the youngsters who lost their lives in Manchester, to their families and friends and to those who are still missing. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
This is in response to Colleen’s challenge: https://colleenchesebro.com/2017/05/23/colleens-weekly-poetry-challenge-35-past-future/
Here are my photos of Emmaus, a charity for the homeless near me. It’s a great place to go to for a cup of tea and cake. There is a garden, ample parking places and everything you buy goes towards helping the homeless. I bought several new mugs, and a couple of other things, and snapped photos of their recycled art sculptures, their hens roaming in the garden, bee area, and several quirky bits and pieces. It helped. A little.
Take care, stay safe.
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My Kyrosmagica Review of PorterGirl: First Lady of The Keys by Lucy Brazier
Goodreads Synopsis:
‘Porters are not the carriers of bags, they are the keepers of keys!’
As one of the most ancient and esteemed establishments of the academic elite, Old College is in for something of a shock when it appoints its very first female Deputy Head Porter.
She struggles to get to grips with this eccentric world, far removed from everyday life. PorterGirl, the proverbial square peg in the round hole, begins to wonder quite what she is doing here.
PorterGirl – First Lady Of The Keys is a touching, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, glimpse into a world that is usually reserved for the upper echelons of society.
Whether she is chasing after naked students, drinking copious amounts of tea or getting embroiled in quaint, polite murders, Deputy Head Porter is never far from adventure.
My review
I’ve had PorterGirl on my must read radar for some time. For three reasons, one it’s set in Cambridge, (and I live in Cambridge too,) and two I have enjoyed reading Lucy’s blog Porter Girl and following her.
Also, my youngest daughter works part-time as a waitress in one of the colleges in Cambridge so I hear all about college life from her, and all about the sumptuous food….
So my impressions of PorterGirl… I really enjoyed PG. It’s one of those books that lifts your spirits up and puts you in a fantastic mood. It prompts you to put the kettle on and eat lots of forbidden biscuits! Lol… Porter G’s experience as the first female porter of a prestigious Cambridge University college is a lively riot from start to finish, full of humour, tea, and jokes about eating fabulous food when and wherever PorterGirl can… Being a foodie, this constant ambition to raid the fridges and steal food from under her colleagues’ hungry noses had me in stitches, as did crazy but ever so serious tasks such as PorterGirl rescuing a most important College cat via a precarious punting escapade. There’s never a dull moment, but a dollop of rising fear ensues as PorterGirl discovers murders are being committed in Old College. She begins to fear for her life, but PorterGirl is no coward, (a former copper,) she manages to keep herself safe, until…. it gets a bit hot under the bowler hat. Even so, her bowler hat remains proudly on top of her head, never to be removed not even in the most dire, calamitous of circumstance!
My recommendation: 4 stars. A favourite read that will make you smile a lot – and smiling is one of my favourite pastimes. Lucy has a pleasing writing style that makes you feel as if you know her personally. But, this novel should come with a health warning: This will make you laugh so much that you will splutter out your tea and biscuits! I reckon our friends across the water will find the copious amount of tea drinking that is a signature style of PorterGirl exceedingly amusing!
Opinion: I felt that perhaps PorterGirl lacked the ‘real’ names (and from Lucy’s point of view the promote-able aspects,) of the ‘real’ Cambridge. I would love to have read about the ‘real’ University college that Old College applied to, and the ‘real’ haunts that Lucy mentions. But, I can understand why Lucy didn’t do so, why she used fictitious names. I expect she wanted to keep the secrets of the establishment, and anonymity of some of the characters in the book. If she had set it in the ‘real’ Cambridge, (and put a few folks noses out of joint,) for me it would have been a five star read. But, that’s just me…. and of course I can see why she wouldn’t want to do that! Lol…
I’m really looking forward to reading more from Lucy Brazier.
I recommend that you get a copy of PorterGirl, rush, before Lucy’s tea gets cold!
Buying links: Amazon – Lucy Brazier: Porter Girl – First Lady of The Keys
Lucy’s next novel:
Lucy has a new fan. 🙂
Bye for now,
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Colleen’s Weekly #Poetry Challenge # 34 – POWER & ALLURE
Colleen’s prompt words this week, power and allure are just up my alley!
So here’s a short extract from my YA fantasy manuscript followed by a haiku.
The Curse of Time: The Bloodstone – excerpt.
Stealing a glance at Ryder I drew in a sharp breath. I had been so absorbed in the drama back at the river that I hadn’t noticed the subtleties flickering like wraiths across his face. I took the time now to note that he had blue-black hair that gleamed in the gloominess of the day. As the rain began to fall, I found myself drawn to his unusual eyes. His inky black eye contrasted with his green eye and had to be his most stunning, and unique, feature. He had long lashes now slicked with raindrops that gleamed in the failing light. Unable to look away, I stared into those captivating eyes as if they were two dark, mysterious pools pulling me into their depths. I imagined myself sinking into oblivion. I felt light-headed as if I’d lost my grip at the top of a high cliff, free-falling, tumbling over and over again, but instead of fighting against this frightening sensation I welcomed it.
© Marjorie Mallon 2017 – aka, Kyrosmagica. All Rights Reserved.
My good friend Colleen Chesebro has taken me under her fairy wings and is working through my manuscript at this very moment…. I can’t thank her enough for all her kindness. She has been such an incredible help….
Just recently, I started a club on Facebook for authors, bloggers and book bloggers – Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club.
Colleen Chesebro, Debby Gies (D.G. Kaye Writer) and I run the club together, we are quite some team. The three of us had such fun recently working on a new header for the club (which you can see at the very bottom of this post.) Guess what? We’ve been looking at rainbows!
During my search I discovered a lovely rainbow fairy, so this one’s for Colleen for all her hard work and help with my manuscript. xxx
To join in with Colleen’s weekly poetry challenge follow the link: Colleen Chesebro’s Poetry Challenge
Bye for now,
My social media hang outs:
Twitter: @marjorie_mallon
My New Facebook club : Authors/Bloggers Rainbow Support Club
