Friday, April 30, 2021

Book Friday: The Ghost of Prince Akhmose

 Ghost fantasy in 3 languages


I've always been fascinated by Egyptian history. It's amazing how much we know yet how much remains a mystery of the people who lived thousands of years ago, built the pyramids, and left invaluable culture and art behind. I was reading about the 19th dynasty one day, and my mind wandered off. I thought about the post I added to Goodreads years ago about life and the afterlife, and it triggered an avalanche of thoughts in my mind.

I've been playing with the idea of writing a fantasy ghost story, so I thought, why not an Egyptian prince? I like cozy, entertaining stories, so there are no scary mummies in this one.
Of course, I needed an evil wizard to curse the prince, an unsuspecting woman to save him, and a funny redhead friend to make you smile as well.

Okay, I'm not going to spoil it for you, enjoy this short, action-packed story. You can read this story in English, Spanish, or Italian, whichever language you feel most comfortable with, or listen to the English audiobook.

A cozy ghost story

A powerful curse cast thousands of years ago by the Grand Vizier. Tanakhmet cursed Prince Akhmose to never enter the Field of Reeds, the heavenly paradise. Why did he want him to linger as a restless ghost among the living, forever?

By reading the hieroglyphs, Layla, a young Egyptologist, inadvertently breaks the curse and frees the ghosts of both Prince Akhmose and the Grand Vizier whose thirst for revenge is stronger than ever.

With Layla’s help, can Prince Akhmose finally cross into the afterlife? Or perhaps, because of the charms of the mortal woman, he doesn’t want to…

Spanish

Una acogedora historia de fantasmas.

Una poderosa maldición lanzada hace miles de años por el Gran Visir. Tanakhmet maldijo al príncipe Akhmose para que nunca entrara en el Campo de Juncos, el paraíso celestial. ¿Por qué quería que el príncipe permaneciera para siempre como un fantasma inquieto entre los vivos?

Al leer los jeroglíficos, Layla, una joven egiptóloga, rompe inadvertidamente la maldición y libera los fantasmas tanto del príncipe Akhmose como del Gran Visir, cuya sed de venganza es más fuerte que nunca.

Con la ayuda de Layla, ¿podrá el príncipe Akhmose finalmente cruzar al más allá? O tal vez, hipnotizado por los encantos de la mujer mortal, no quiere ...

Italian

Un romanzo fantasy storico.

Una potente maledizione lanciata migliaia di anni fa dal Gran Visir. Tanakhmet maledì il principe Akhmose per non entrare mai nel Campo delle Canne, il paradiso celeste. Perché voleva che rimanesse per sempre come un fantasma irrequieto tra i vivi?

Leggendo i geroglifici, Layla, una giovane egittologa, spezza inavvertitamente la maledizione e libera i fantasmi sia del principe Akhmose che del Gran Visir, la cui sete di vendetta è più forte che mai.

Con l'aiuto di Layla, il principe Akhmose può finalmente entrare nell'aldilà? O forse, a causa del fascino della donna mortale, non vuole ...

Audiobook


The author



Monday, April 26, 2021

The Doubts of an Author

 I Have Doubts

Image credit: Lukas Biery from Pixabay

Yes, I have doubts as to the quality of my writing. Is it any good or am I just fooling myself?

Every morning, early, —always about 5 a. m.—I rise from bed and begin writing. I’m always excited to begin the day writing, my heart pumping, and my creative juices flowing. On good days, I may write, off-and-on, for four or five hours. If it goes well, I’m elated; if it goes badly, I’m miserable. If I only hammered out two or three lines, I feel that I have wasted my whole day—for nothing! I pout and I feel anger for the rest of the day, and I wonder whatever made me ever believe that I could ever do a thing like writing a book, to begin with. Stupid! And for an Indie writer, this is even worse—you don’t have a publisher!

Well, and even having a publisher isn’t always a sure deal of the quality of one’s writing.

I have had many short stories and six novels published. My first novel was published by a man who owned a small publishing company. He kept telling me that my manuscript was one of the best novels that he had ever read. The contract that I signed with him was a 60/40 contract, with a 30% overhead charge—meaning that before the 60/40 kicked in, 30% was taken off first: I made little money.

So, I don’t know. Yeah, I have doubts. Even the King says—that’s Stephen King— “Don’t go into writing lightly. There are too many disappointments.”

Yet, when all is said and done, there are the occasional emails that I receive from people—total strangers! —thanking me for my writing putting a smile on their faces.

Yes, I have doubts, but receiving one of those joyful emails makes it all worth it.

Written by:

Alan Zacher

After many years of being a "struggling" actor in LA, I turned to writing. I have had several novels published: "I'm No P. I."; "A Ghoulish Good Time"; "The 13th Hour"; "Being a P. I.--Again". I have had MS for serval years now; I know physical and mental pain; so I need much laughter to endure it. Hopefully, my novels do just that--give much laughter.

Friday, April 23, 2021

Book Friday: Bittersweet Reality

 Poems and short stories

Choosing to ignore the reality of my publications' lack of success, I assembled another collection for public entertainment.  Gorged on the sincere praises of my editor and several fans, I have once again allowed my ego to lead me by the carrot of fame it dangles before my eyes.  How can you refuse to follow the advice to publish given by someone who even takes the time to come up with the perfect title?
Bittersweet Reality has become a reality thanks to the efforts of my editor, Cindy Calloway who encouraged me to share these works and named them.  The artistic and technical abilities of Erika M. Szabo of Golden Box Books Publishing, are evident when you see this gorgeous cover, the beautiful interior of the book in all its forms and when you watch  the video below which she created. 

This collection has stories as well as poems offering my view of the world before me without my rose-colored glasses.


Cindy J. Smith
Cindy has written poetry, and with every experience in life, she has found inspiration. Wife, Mother, and Grandmother, she has a myriad of beautiful memories to draw from. Never having been good at playing the part of "starving artist", she has had many careers, but her current one, an over-the-road truck driver with her husband, Dave, has provided amazing opportunities for inspiration in her later years.

Monday, April 19, 2021

Resilience and Patience


Last year the 30th of December I was surprised to see one of my garden plants starting to bloom. I have it there for enough time to understand that it starts to bloom between April and August. I remember having chosen it just because of its long blooming season and because the first pollinators could have soon something to eat after the long winter. 

For this reason, you can imagine my surprise when I saw it blooming in the middle of the winter. I was also worried because, although we didn’t have had yet any snow, I was sure it would have come quite soon, meaning the demise of the plant.

In fact, as I feared, after a few days the Finnish landscape turned white, and the only hope I had was that at least only those early blooms would have died out, leaving the whole plant alive ready to bloom once again at the right time.

Likewise every winter, the temperatures went far below freezing this winter, reaching -25 C. 


Every time I looked out of the window, I wondered about the well-being of those little flowers. Many times I have been tempted to dig them out from the snow and cover them with a cloth that could have protected them from the cold, but a little voice in my head told me that perhaps the snow cover could be just enough of a protection.

A few days ago, as the milder temperatures started to melt the snow cover, I thought I saw something worth my attention, and as I went to refill the bird feeder, I reached the place where the blooming flower was planted.

And I marveled…

Not only the plant survived the harsh and long winter, but under the snow cover, those flowers found a safe cocoon from where to find shelter from the cold weather. They patiently kept themselves alive, gathering the weak light filtering through the snow cover, feeding on the slowly melting ice, and counting the days to Spring.

It gave me a sense of hope and also a good lesson, about patience. Sometimes we all need to work and wait before we can harvest the fruits of what we’ve done, as nothing happens in a one-day timeframe. So the old say ‘good things come to those who wait’ isn’t so wrong after all.


P.J. Mann

Paula J. Mann lives a double life. She is a geologist by day and a novelist by night. She's best known for writing psychological thrillers and crime fiction. She also writes historical fiction and paranormal suspense. She loves traveling and shares her experiences on her blog: http://paperpenandinkwell.blogspot.com

Friday, April 16, 2021

Book Friday: Mystics in Hell

Metaphysical fantasy anthology 


Why did I write my story in the anthology?
Abode of Woe features characters from ancient Greek Myth, and from Victorian England. Where else could such people meet? Darkly humorous and fiery fantasy in the ultimate shared world.

About the book:
Join the doomed on their vision quests in eleven stories by the damnedest writers in Perdition: Janet Morris; A.L. Butcher; Joe Bonadonna; Andrew P. Weston; Gustavo Bondoni; Seth Lindberg; Tom Barczak; Michael H. Hanson; Louis Antonelli; Christopher Crosby Morris.

Mystics in Hell is the latest volume in the notorious Heroes in Hell series of anthologies and novels created by Janet Morris.

Posted by:

A.L. Butcher

British-born A. L. Butcher is an avid reader and creator of worlds, a poet, and a dreamer, a lover of science, natural history, history, and monkeys. Her prose has been described as ‘dark and gritty’ and her poetry as ‘evocative’. She writes with a sure and sometimes erotic sensibility of things that might have been, never were, but could be.


Friday, April 9, 2021

Book Friday: The Worthless Painting

 The Worthless Painting


I was watching the Musketeers series and my mind wandered off. I imagined a painter in France in the 14th century whose painting ends up forgotten in a family's closet in America. What if this painting would be found and after lots of confusion would bring two people together?

Small-town cozy mystery novelette.

Danielle’s life spins out of control when the snobbish new owner of the Couture mansion brings a seemingly worthless painting into her antique shop. The ownership of the painting is questionable, and the town’s future is threatened by the plans of the ruthless, rich owner. An unexpected visitor arrives, and he may possess the much-needed solution to everyone’s problems.

EBOOK  

AUDIOBOOK

Posted by Erika M Szabo



Monday, April 5, 2021

Your Cat is a Chatterbox

 Cats don't use words to talk, of course!


But they communicate very well with sounds and body postures. If you pay attention to your feline friend's postures, you know exactly how they feel and what kind of mood they're in.


I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful. Tell me about your favorite feline friend in the comments. 

Read my previous post about cats:




Friday, April 2, 2021

Book Friday: The Chunky, Dumpy, Spunky Monkey

 Fat-shaming hurts



I wrote this book for children who happened to inherit a chunky body type, or just happen to be a bit chubby. No matter the reason, teasing, and bullying don't help and hurts the same.


My novels, novelettes, audiobooks, and children's books







Thursday, April 1, 2021

Online Magazine, April 2021

 Read free online magazines


In this Issue:
A Whodunit mystery
Beware of the fluffy beast
Herb- medication interactions
Longest and weirdest words
Nightmares and witching hour
New release & featured books

A WhodunIt Mystery

On a rainy Thursday morning, Mrs. O’ Brian was found dead in her one-bedroom apartment in the inner-city of St. Louis by her caretaker and the apartment complex manager. According to their statements, Mrs. O’Brian didn’t come to the door as usual when Flora, her caretaker knocked. Worried, she asked the manager to open the door, and they’ve found the old lady in the kitchen, dead, and the apartment ransacked.

Homicide Detective Chance was assigned to the case. According to the coroner’s report, Mrs. O'Brian died sometime between eight and midnight the night before. The cause of death was asphyxiation as the result of someone holding a soft, thick material to her face until she stopped breathing. Although she had some bruising on her arms as if she tried to fight off the attacker, the coroner didn’t find any evidence under her fingernails. 

By Friday, Detective Chance found out that Mrs. O’ Brian had lived there for many years, had a moderate income, and she was a lady of routine. She rose every morning at six AM. After bathing and dressing, she ate her breakfast of a bowl of cereal while she watched the morning local news on the small TV that sat on top of the kitchen table. On Mondays and Thursdays from eight AM until noon, Flora, her caregiver, came to help her with cleaning, laundry, and cooking. On Tuesday mornings, Mrs. O’Brian ordered a taxi and went to buy groceries at a small family-owned store, the Kroger’s, five blocks south of her apartment building.

Detective Chance visited the store and finding the owner asked if he knows Mr. O’Brian. “Of course, she’s been shopping here every week for years. A loyal customer, she was just here Tuesday. I hope she knows that she had won the jackpot,” the owner of the store told the detective, smiling. But his expression turned sad when the detective told him that she was murdered. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” he cried out. “She was such a sweet person.”

“How did you know she won the lottery?” the detective inquired.

Continue reading in the magazine:


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