Our Guest Today is Author Andi Lawrencovna #ourauthorgang

Welcome, Andi! So good to have you with us today.

Andi Lawrencovna is a fantasy and science fiction writer from Ohio. To date, her books include: CHARMING--A CROWN AND DAGGERS BOOK ONE, THE FIRST BALL--a NEVER LANDS SAGA BOOK ONE, and THE DRAGON'S SACRIFICE--A BREATH OF FYRE  NOVEL in the NEVER LANDS SAGA.

 Andi works closely with WriteNow Publishing, BUT maintains her independent authorship. She currently has three novels and two short story to her name, and her next novel, SO SWEET, will be out later this year. SO SWEET is a tale as old as time whose characters are as equally ancient and waiting to be released. Happily-Ever-Afters have never been bleaker, though Andi promises there’s always hope for rainbows and unicorns in THE NEVER LANDS.

Andi currently resides in Northeast Ohio with her dog and an imagination that has gotten her into more trouble than not. Her education includes a BA in English from Denison University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College. She works as a legal secretary during the day and removes her glasses at night…wrong genre. 

Due to the mature content of her books, they are for 18 years of age and older. 

She loves hearing from her readers and may be reached at:

Website:  http://www.AndiLawrencovna.com

Newsletter:  https://ahupie1.wixsite.com/andilandsnewsletter

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Andi-Lawrencovna/e/B0100KXLQY

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/people/Andi-Lawrencovna/100009925094760

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ALawrencovna

Goodreads:  www.goodreads.com/author/show/14054205.Andi_Lawrencovna

http://a.co/2DW60ha

Once upon a time, or so the story goes, there was a prince who threw a ball to find a wife.

He was a young prince, by his peoples’ standards, and though he had no wish for a bride, he was honor bound to make the attempt to find one. Of course, Prince Kit knew that it was not just honor that bound him to the duty. Prophesied or cursed, who could say. But since he was a babe, assassins and soldiers had come for him: in the dead of night, in the middle of court, amidst the steps of a waltz. They wished to end his life and with it end the lives of his people and the land he was meant to rule. It was a heavy burden for a young man to bear, worse for a prince kept cloistered for his own good.

But a wife,...well, a wife would provide an heir, and perhaps prevent his peoples’ doom.  And so, he danced with maiden after maiden at ball after ball  until he danced with her. 

She came out of the Darkness, a vision in a black dress and glass slippers, to join the throng for the Prince’s celebration. 

The first night she hid a small vial filled with arsenic in the folds of her gown, but it was knocked from her hand before she could upend it into his glass of champagne. 

The second night she brought a stiletto hilted in her garter that she never thought to draw and returned to her rooms un-blooded. 

The third night Eli ran from him, found her horse, and fled back to the forest from whence she came, desperate to escape his charming smile and the emotions she refused to acknowledge in his gaze that seethed in her heart, too.

He gave chase.  

What is an assassin to do when her prey hunts her down?

One waltz at a ball. One trip of a slipper. One Prince. And one Assassin.

Charming…simply, Charming.

Book Spotlight - Whisper Gatherers - Nicola McDonagh

From the author of The song of Forgetfulness  Cli-fi/Sci-fi/Dystopian Series 

Book 1Whisper Gatherers.

On Sale for only 99c!!

What if your last day at school turned out to be your first day as a rebel warrior?

“Think,'Lord of the Flies' meets the wild children in 'Beyond Thunderdome.”

In a land disfigured by famine and disease, panic spreads throughout the scattered population when the Agro Empire cuts food supplies. Soon, special children start to disappear.

Now, starving Renegades are gathering, ready to storm the last haven in NotSoGreatBritAlbion. Whispers of a saviour have brought them to the perimeter fences. They want Adara, Catcher of Birds.

“If you like action, and science fiction then you’ll appreciate one of the first books EVER that gives you high powered adrenalin with chilling revelations of utter suspense!”

You can purchase the book from the following outlets:

Amazon:

myBook.to/WhisperGatherers

Kobo:

UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/whisper-gatherers-1

US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/whisper-gatherers-1

Follow Nicola on:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/thesongofforgetfulness/

Twitter:

@McDonaghNikki

Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/nikkimcdonagh56/boards/

 Visit her on:

Blog sites:

https://wordpress.com/post/nicolajmcdonagh.wordpress.com

Website:

www.oddlybooks.com

Author page Amazon:

 Author.to/BooksonAmazon

Let there be light- part two - Foxfire

Foxfire is the stuff of magic. A strange eerie glow found in forests in the depth of night has both enchanted and baffled people who saw the colourful illuminations on dead trees, or in caves, for centuries. From an article in PhysOrg where they describe what Foxfire is,  "...nutrient-sipping threads of the honey mushroom give off a faint but eerie glow in rotten logs…Desjardin said. "People are mostly afraid of them, calling them 'ghost mushrooms.'"

Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2011-07-mushroom-night-brazil-bioluminescent-fungus.html#jCp

When I saw images of these spooky lights I knew I had to use them in the apocalyptic prequel to my sci-fi/dystopian series The Song of Forgetfulness. I wanted a way for survivors to be able to have light other than just burning wood. But I needed to know about this wondrous spectacle. I do love research.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that biologists were able to identify the strange light as a fungal growth on rotting wood. Now more commonly known as Bioluminescence, this light source can be found throughout the animal kingdom. Fireflies use it, fish use it as do many forms of mollusc and plankton.

Click on the link to view some glowing organisms.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/bioluminescence/

In my prequel, The Chronicles of Mayer, survivors of an ecological disaster need to find ways to lighten their gloomy world. It was not my intention to recreate the shining forests in the film ‘Avatar’ just to somehow use actual scientific research to give credibility to my narrative. Some scientists in my story, stumble across glowing mushroom type organisms in the rotting bark of a tree. They inject it into living trees and when it is dark they glow. In the passage below, Janet, one of the scientists, attempts to explain how they did it.

“Using a design reproducing transform cycle we created the light emitting DNA on a laser printer. Then injected the trees with the DNA of the luminous mould. As it spreads throughout the sap, it causes them to light up at night. Although it’s found mostly on dead trees, with a few tweaks at a molecular level, we managed to make the fungus work symbiotically.”

www.thesongofforgetfulness.com

I’m not the only author to use this Foxfire in literature, Aristotle, Pliny the Elder, and Mark Twain were familiar with it. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer uses the fungal phenomenon to bring light to a dark tunnel.

My representation of what Foxfire mushrooms look like, I couldn’t find any royalty free images.

The concept of being able to light our world without the use of fossil fuels, exciting and would benefit third world countries too. From an article in The Guardian: “This would be a key breakthrough in, for instance, designing a genetically modified tree that could glow in the dark and act as a sustainable source of street lighting.”

You can read the full piece here: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/03/fungi-glow-dark-luminscent-mushrooms-conservation-enviroment-bioscience

I researched different types of naturally occurring brightness in organisms and not only discovered some amazing creatures, but some amazing scientists working on creating ‘night-light’ type small trees that have this bioluminescence fungus placed into their DNA. The company called their research The Glowing Plant Project and back in 2013, the idea of self-illuminating trees caught the imagination. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/antonyevans/glowing-plants-natural-lighting-with-no-electricit

Although The Glowing Plant Project gained sufficient funding for their research development, they were unable to deliver the plants and are now working on glowing moss.

Such a shame, I was half hoping they would manufacture self-lighting Christmas trees. Wouldn’t that be wonderful to have a living tree in your room that sparkles without the need to unravel all of those annoying fairy lights that become inexorably entangled when put away after the holiday festivities. Until that day arrives I’ll do my best to reduce the hacking down of fir trees to adorn our homes by using a twig tree. First steps in having an environmentally friendly Christmas.

More tips here: Ethical Xmas trees Friends of the Earth: https://www.foe.co.uk/natural-resources/21-ecofriendly-christmas-tips

All photos copyright of the author.

When Life Imitates Art #OurAuthorGang

My Dystopian series, The Song of Forgetfulness, set in a post-apocalyptic world where rising oceans and disease has wiped out most animal life, is a work of fiction, right? Wrong.

When I was researching the consequences of the melting polar ice caps, the destruction of the rain forests, the surge of new and deadly diseases, I realised my books were based not on science fiction, but scarily, science fact.

The shocking truth is, that global warming and the harmful effects of pesticides on pollinating insects and animals, is far worse than we thought. A case in point is the humble bee. In the UK their numbers have decreased at an alarming rate due mostly to the use of pesticides and pollutants commonly used in agriculture.

These creatures are vital to the fertilisation of many crops and plants that in turn provide food for other animals and ultimately human beings. If their numbers continue to decline, then the fragile ecology system of our planet will be compromised so severely that extinction of many species is inevitable. That has consequences for people to, for without these species we will not survive as the fauna that feeds on these plants, cows, sheep, pigs etc. will also die out. Meaning humans who eat such animals and plants will starve.

"The impacts are potentially high for otherwise healthy people, animals and plants," the reporter states. 'Higher temperatures will lead to an increased risk of the Asian tiger mosquito, the vector of Chikungunya virus, dengue fever and Zika virus. The current risk remains low, but may increase in the future."

Most of mankind is, of course, in denial. We don't want to hear the truth. So when things start to go bad, and they have, droughts, followed by flooding and mighty tornados, which have devastated some parts of the world, are soon forgotten. Things gradually get back to a kind of normal and like pain, the memory of it is diluted. The result is that if we continue to look the other way, forget the tragedies, we will become increasingly unprepared for the consequences of an even bigger environmental disaster.

In The Chronicles of Mayer, a prequel to The Song of Forgetfulness series, the female protagonist has such a discussion with her father:

Floods and terrible diseases were wiping out many local farms. I remember when a neighbour lost his business. It was the first time I'd seen my dad upset. 'You know Brian?'
'Sheila's uncle?'
'Yep. Well you know they have a small holding?'
'Yep.'
'Lost all their cattle and sheep to some ancient bug thingy. Had them all shot dead. They'll be bankrupt.' I stared at my father. He shrugged and said, 'Well, there you go. That's life I suppose.' he turned on the television, sat and watched the news. He shivered. 'Turn the central heating up, love.'
'Don't you care?'
'Don't start, I'm trying to wind down.'
I stood in front of the screen, he leaned to one side and waved his hand at me. 'Move.'
'Can't you see what is happening? Nature is trying to fix things. She's resurrecting some ancient bugs. Anthrax is back. That's what the reporter is saying, or aren't you listening?'
'Of course I am.'
'Anthrax, Dad. What next?'
He turned the volume up and shoved me out of the way. 'Who cares? Whatever, we'll survive. We've still got a bit of ozone layer. We're fine, for now.'
I stiffened. 'Really? Are we?'

Such potential catastrophes are happening in the UK. In recent years the weather has taken its toll on agriculture. In the region where I live, farming has suffered from poor crops due to rain erosion and poorly managed drainage systems.

Here is an extract from a similar story in the Guardian newspaper. Link to the full report:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/12/uk-poorly-prepared-for-climate-change-

impacts-government-advisers-warn

The UK is poorly prepared for the inevitable impacts of global warming in coming decades, including deadly annual heatwaves, water shortages and difficulties in producing food, according to the government's official advisers.

'Already 85% of the rich peat topsoils of East Anglia has disappeared,' said Krebs.

However, not all is doom and gloom. Very recently the UK government announced a total ban on pesticides that harm bees, being used in farming.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/09/uk-will-back-total-ban-on-bee-harming-pesticides-michael-gove-reveals

On a smaller level we can do our part to encourage the survival of bees by creating a bee garden. If you have the space, you can let a part of your yard/garden go wild again. Plant some bee-friendly flowers such as, borage, marjoram, chives, lavender, honeysuckle, crocus and sage. If you don't have an outside space, you can plant flowers in tubs/containers and leave them on your windowsill, porch or pathway.

Well, it's a start. Perhaps my stories will be just that, stories, and our future will not be so bleak. Besides, in my Dystopian world mankind does survive and some even try to make the world a better place. Oh no, I've given too much away.

If you want to know more about The Song of Forgetfulness series, please visit my website:

http://www.thesongofforgetfulness.com/

Or go to my Amazon Author page:

Author.to/BooksonAmazon

All photographs copyright of the author Nicola McDonagh

Our Guest Today is Author J.A. Clark #OurAuthorGang

Author J.A. Clark

J.A.Clark was born in Australia and grew up in England and Southern California. Sports is a passion, but writing is what is in her heart. She's dreamed of writing since 7th grade after reading  Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. She currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, two dogs, and two cats.  Elementals: Coming of Age is her debut novel.

J.A. would love to hear from her readers. Contact her at

http://www.facebook.com/jaclark1962

http://www.twitter.com/JACLARK1962

http://a.co/2b9f7CA

Excitement consumes Catharine Steele as she follows in her father's footsteps, becoming the youngest space flight commander in the history of the military. She hugs her father tightly before boarding the monorail heading to her first command. She is ignoring the unexplainable dark shadows out the corner of her eye that started the morning of her twenty-fifth birthday. After boarding, she meets young commander, Andrew Westlake, and strong feelings stir deep within her. That night, terrifying nightmares of warning began. She had no idea she was destined to meet another man whose love she would deny. At the age of twenty-five, she would change the course of her life and the lives of others.

An excerpt from Elementals: Coming of Age....

            "It has been two hundred years since humans have fought against one another over land, greed, or religion. Overpopulation of Earth is no longer a threat to our beautiful planet. Humans have colonized the moon and Mars. Advancement in science and technology allowed space travel within our solar system. Enormous cargo ships harvested frozen planets and asteroids for their water. Construction of great domes on Mars allowed humans to plant life to flourish, no longer worrying about depleting our food supplies. Earth has healed, plant life flourishes, and the air we breathe is as clean as when the dinosaurs roamed."