Showing posts with label #books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #books. Show all posts

Monday, July 8, 2019

Travel and writing: a tight bond in the Trilogy Deadly Deception

By P. J. Mann


The trilogy Deadly Deception that has been finally released as a whole is set mainly in Boston and Tbilisi, with some short stops in Africa described in the first book of the series.
In my life, writing and traveling are very closely connected together. 
Traveling is meant for me as a journey to my inner growth, besides seeing something new, and my destinations are not always those, someone who is thinking about a holiday would consider. Many of them have been in conflict areas where we needed the support of some people we knew who were working at the UN missions.
Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, has been chosen because I really liked the attitude of the country from its detachment from the Soviet Union, which happened in 1990.
I have traveled in Tbilisi during the spring period, and I believe I should have done it in summer to appreciate all the beauty of the place. 
Here are some pictures from the places that inspired me the most in Georgia:




Something I wanted to bring out from this trilogy was the cultural difference, the beauty of the landscape and cityscape, the flavors, the colors, and the language.
The contrast between the two places, Boston and Tbilisi, was something worth highlighting, and here are some pictures from Boston:



The Georgian characters are brought to life by the observations I have made and the people I have met during my stay in Tbilisi. 
In the same way, also the Boston characters come from direct experiences of people I have met during my journey in Boston.
Now I understand that we cannot generalize, and people are different even within the same country. Nevertheless, there are always those cultural heritage backgrounds common to general behavior.
Due to my lack of clue on how to properly market my writing, I have received very few reviews. However, I am glad to see that they are all positive, which compensates from low sales.
I hope you found this peeking behind the scenes interesting.

Here is the general link for the whole series:
Deadly Deception-The trilogy 




Thursday, July 4, 2019

Jasmine's Wish Boxset

The Five Divisions in Each of the Books

When my daughter Jasmine decided she was going to pursue her idea to have my poems published, she realized she needed a title and to make them presentable.  First things first, she decided on the perfect title, Voices In My Head.  Now she could concentrate on the second task, presentation.  At the time, I had a Brother Word Processor that created beautiful pages.  Using various fonts and colors, she printed out every poem I had written that she could find.  The volume of paper she ended up with was more than she figured on.

Unwilling to be thwarted, she decided the poems just needed to be put into categories.  Jasmine attempted to sort them several different ways.  Her final choice was to separate them into 5 basic themes:  People In My Life, Nature In My World, Visions In My Mind, Days In My Years, and Pieces Of My Heart.  Once the divisions were settled on she decided to call the entire collection Voices In My Head. 

Sorting turned out to be rather frustrating as a great many of the poems could easily fit into more than one category.  Her decision was to place them where they fit best.  Jasmine's divisions had  the poems in alphabetical order.  Her reasoning was that a publisher would put them where they wanted to anyways.

Voices In My Head, the first book in the Jasmine's Wish set, is her design.Besides mixing up the poems, the only difference between what she mailed out and this volume was the addition of poems written after her attempt at publication.  

People In My Life


In this section, the theme of the poems is people. Some of the poems are about actual people, like my daughter and granddaughter. They tell what I feel about them and what they are doing.  Others are ideals, how I wish things were, or how I once thought the people were, as an example the poems about Moms.  Requested poems are also here.  "Adonis" or "Cereal Killer" are examples of poems where I took lots of characteristics and blended them into someone everyone knows. 

Nature In My World



Everything to do with nature. Weather, landscapes, animals, even outdoor activities are included in this category. Most of these poems are fantasies, mere mixtures of memories--theories on what the subject could be.  The poem "Sailor" envisions sailing across the oceans while "Cave Paintings" question the real reasons for the discoveries.The seasons have a major presence.  I have always been moved by the continuously changing displays of Mother Nature.  No two seasons are every exactly the same. 

Visions In My Mind

 Magic, fairy-tales and dreams are the mainstays of this section.  As you can probably guess, all of the poems could easily fit into this category as all the poems are just ideas in my head put down in ink.  Jasmine agreed with that assessment yet felt some would fit nowhere else.  Here we find poems like "Jack Frost" describing his painting the world, or ones with fairies dew-kissing the flowers.  Many relate tales of the paradise I wish the world was. Some are fanciful while others are thought provoking like "Child's View." 

Days In My Years


These are rhymes about actual days, specific times in my life. Poems in this section include birthday wishes I've written for people as well as my views on various holidays celebrated throughout the years. Days in general are also topics as I write of the need for coffee to face the day and how weeks have way too many days.  It is a section devoted to time as its ripples guide our lives.

Pieces Of My Heart

 
Emotions, thoughts and feelings about everything are gathered here. Anger, angst love and grief flicker through many of the stanzas. Laughter and sarcasm find homes in my heart as well. In this section, my voices help me understand and accept the way I feel. The verses help me find the balance that emotions destroy.  In these poems, as with any of the sections, the details are not necessarily my own experiences.  I try to put myself in someone else's shoes, see the world through their eyes.  I attempt to be them for a few moments and thus see both sides of situations.  I mainly write in the first person so no one will feel like a target, while still giving a truthful representation of the behavior I am witnessing.  Just knowing someone else feels what you feel or simply understands your pain is often the balm a heart needs to keep trying. 


The divisions Jasmine decided on were perfect, in my opinion.  For that reason, I used them for the entire set of books in this collection.  It is hers, a gift from my heart to her.  None of my other collections are divided, except 365, everything about them is random.  I feel it is the right thing to do.  Jasmine's Wish is the fulfillment of her dream for me and it should be special.

As a special note, I would like to thank Erika Szabo and Golden Box Books Publishing for the pictures used for each category. Erika added them to the e-versions of my books making them beautiful. 


Find Cindy on her:

Blog:
https://cindysvoices.blogspot.com/

Website:
http://carternovels.com/author-cindy-j-smith.html

Twitter:  @cindysvoices

FB:  https://www.facebook.com/CindysVoices/

GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6505989.Cindy_J_Smith

Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/cindyjsmith1/

Portfilio Links
https://view.joomag.com/golden-box-book-publishing-cindys-voices/0568888001561494976

http://pubhtml5.com/ahsh/nmba

Sunday, March 10, 2019

March Book Show at #OurAuthorGang

Today is author appreciation day at OAG
We showcase some of the books of the most active members of the OAG blog and Facebook Group
We're happy to announce a new release audiobook by the founder of OAG
EBOOK

Enter to win a free audiobook HERE
Books by the most active OAG members
Click on the links below the book covers to check out the books and more work from the authors
 Memoir

Urban fantasy 

 YA Fantasy 

Literary criticism
 Poetry
 Fantasy
Thriller
 Suspense
AMAZON 
Mystery
AMAZON 
 Gothic fiction
AMAZON
 Suspense
AMAZON
Self-help
AMAZON 
Poetry
AMAZON 
 Romance
AMAZON
Fantasy
AMAZON 
 Fantasy
AMAZON
 Family saga
AMAZON
Romance
AMAZON 

Thriller
Short stories
Christian education 
AMAZON
 Poetry
AMAZON
Women's fiction
Short stories
Paranormal romance 
AMAZON
 Visionary fiction
AMAZON
 Romance
AMAZON
Sci-fi 
AMAZON
Historical fantasy 
 AMAZON


 Paranormal fantasy


 Military fantasy


Paranormal 


Horror
 AMAZON
 
Gothic fiction
AMAZON 
Historical fantasy
AMAZON 
Spanish fantasy
AMAZON

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