Showing posts with label PJ Mann. Show all posts

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

WEBSITE

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

Monday, March 8, 2021

Beware of the Fluffy Beast

Ferocious animals

Image credit: Rebekka D. from Pixabay

In many private houses, it’s common to find the warning about a ferocious dog ready to rip your limbs apart if you try to intrude uninvited. We all know about the cats’ territoriality and their vicious habit of aiming straight at the opponents’ eyes.

Yet, there’s a big misconception about what apparently can look like the quintessential loveliness hidden within a cloud of fluffy fur.

I am talking about Bunnies.

Even the nickname inspires nothing but tenderness, and when we saw pictures of those adorable little critters, the first thing that comes to our minds is just… AWWW!

Well, let me introduce you to the world of the most devious creature nature has ever created. Rabbits are natural prey, so you would expect them to run and hide when threatened. You would never expect them to punch, bite and run against whatever they might consider a threat. This, of course, regardless of whether the threat is real or is just in their imagination.

Yes, Rabbits are big drama queens and have a vivid imagination. I am wondering whether they are a sort of animal representation of Don Quixote.

Another impressive thing about rabbits is the wide range of personalities they have. We all know that dogs are generally very loyal, cats are independent and territorial. Rabbits can indeed be adorable and company seekers, lone souls, independent and stubborn, diffident, troublemakers, and much more. Something, though very common, is their strict territoriality. What is theirs cannot be yours too. They are not of the sharing kind, and when you step over their boundaries, be reassured they will let you know one way or another.

I had a few rabbits in my life, and I loved them all. Once I got to understand their needs, we became quite soon best friends. The latest one, Carolina, is one of a kind. She came to us as a rescue rabbit, and for the first four years, all she could accept from us was our presence (barely) and the food offered. Thinking of having her closer than two meters was unthinkable. Yet, during that period, she’d been studying us, taking notes, and pondering whether to trust us or not. It was then from one day to another that she allowed me to come closer and pet her. From that day on, our interactions had been more friendly, but there’s still a shade behind her eyes. “You know I started to trust you, don’t make me regret that!”

Written by P. J. Mann

https://pjmannauthor.com/

Thursday, March 7, 2019

A Tale of a Rough Diamond an award winning thriller

By P. J. Mann

A Tale of a Rough Diamond is a tale of envy, dysfunctional family, revenge, and love. I came up with the title as the main character, Stephan is a difficult young man, always looking for excitement. He is like a rough diamond who will shine only after someone spends some time looking for the jewel in his heart. In his case, he will shine through all the troubles he will have to endure.

Stephan was born in a wealthy family, and his life seems going on carelessly. He has everything a teenager would envy, at least, so it seems from the outside.

Going closer to the family life the reader will be brought to discover a dysfunctional family broken by tragedies. Each of the family members has his or her own pain which will carry on for the rest of their lives. But the one who is going to pay for everything will be Stephan himself.

His older brother is envious of his charisma and charm and will devote his whole life to make sure that he will be cast off of the family, even if this will mean becoming a ruthless criminal and selling his soul to the devil himself.

Once he ends up in jail, Stephan will be left alone by the rest of the family and will have to climb his way up from the bottom he'd fallen to claim justice and regain his place in the family.

In Jail, he will meet many interesting figures, but one in particularly will be a key figure in Stephan’s development from a scared boy into an adult man determined to find justice. Joe Smith is a man who has been convicted for life for having accidentally killed a man. He will carry the weight of regret for the rest of his life and will do everything in his power to protect Stephan and guide him like the father he never really had.

Excerpt:
The Villain:
Roger looked at his hands. They were shaking – that nervous shake he’d learned to recognize and deal with a long time ago. His head felt as if it were going to explode, so strong was the pain he felt.
He reached for the cabinet, where he kept the first-aid kit and took a couple of analgesic pills. He knew they wouldn’t really help, but he took them anyway.
He was expecting two guests, both very important. The first one didn’t worry him at all, as he knew he could easily be dealt with.
The second one, however, was on a totally different level. The success or failure of all he had built so far was at stake – his firm, his career, his wealth, and his own life. That was the reason for the restless state of his mind, that made his hands shake and his head ache.
He looked anxiously at the clock. There was still time, but it seemed as his heart had a different perception of time, and it started to race in his chest. He took a couple of deep breaths and went to sit in the armchair behind his desk.

He made himself comfortable, sinking into the soft leather, and closed his eyes to regain some calm. He thought about what the deal of the game was, and how the success of both the meetings was to be achieved. Success was not an option.

The Hero:
Stephan waited in the darkness, feeling nervous and excited at the same time. Every time he was at that exact spot, waiting for the car of Reece stopping by or for Jonas to whistle him about his arrival, he felt the adrenaline rush, foretasting another adventure with his mates.
A couple of whistles, and he understood his friend arrived, just in time, before that restlessness on the background of his turmoil, would have overwhelmed the excitement and he would have ran away, scared like a child.
“It was about time, where is Reece?” asked Stephan.
“He is waiting in the car a couple of blocks away from here, there was a cop car parked there,” he said, pointing the entrance of a shop.
Jonas walked fast and barely exchanged a single word with him, like he generally used to do.
Stephan didn’t say anything either, but his behavior made him more nervous than he already was.
“Come on guys, we don’t have the whole night,” said Reece impatiently.
“What’s the matter with you tonight, it seems like we’re going to rob the Central Bank in the middle of the day,” said Stephan.
“Shut the fuck up, kid. We are not going to a party,” hissed Reece as he drove as fast as he could to their target.
Stephan could tell, when Reece had been drinking, and knew that he could become quite dangerous; therefore he sat down on the backseat of the car and remained silent as Reece ordered.
As they arrived in front of their target, Reece remained still for a moment, like he was hesitating and was almost ready to give up everything. “Fuck that!” he mumbled.
“Come on let’s go!” Reece added as he got out of the car.
“OK, kiddo, do your trick,” Jonas whispered.
It was a matter of a couple of minutes and the door opened, then a few seconds, and the alarm was put to sleep.
“Jeeha!!” Jonas exulted as they all got inside the house.

The small group of friends dispersed to the different rooms of the house, looking for something to rob that could give them some small wealth.

Buying links:
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XQ3CH9Z
Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tale-Rough-Diamond-P-Mann-ebook/dp/B06XQ3CH9Z
Amazon.ca: https://www.amazon.ca/Tale-Rough-Diamond-P-Mann-ebook/dp/B06XQ3CH9Z

Follow the author:
Website: https://pjmann2016.wixsite.com/pjmann
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paperpenandinkwell
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PjMann2016

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Friday, February 22, 2019

An extra help to get you into bookstores (Part 2).

Last time I was talking about the two ways to get published and I gave a hint on how to make possible even for an indie author to have a concrete chance to have their books listed on physical bookstores.
There is the combination Amazon/KDP + IngramSpark that seems to work quite well on that sense.
The open question I wanted to focus the attention was the quality between the two prints and how to solve a couple of barely perceptible difference between the two prints.

1. The tones of the colors.
Since there aren’t two printing machines that give the same results, you need to understand that there will be some differences and, in this case, I have noticed that the colors of the book printed from Amazon are brighter and more vibrant than those in the cover printed by IngramSpark.
Again, the difference is minimal, and you can be happy with the result obtained without the need to change anything. However, if you prefer having the exact same results, keep in mind to brighten the colors for the cover printed by IngramSpark.

The book on the left is the one printed through IngramSpark, the one on the right is the one printed through Amazon.

2. The trim and cover formatting:
Although the trim is the same, there is a substantial difference between the margins suggested by Amazon and those by IngramSpark. The latter prefers keeping the bleed thinner, so you need to calibrate the two covers according to the guidelines so that they will look exactly the same once printed.

3. Inside the books:
Honestly, the quality of the binding is in both cases excellent, and I have nothing to say about. I use the cream color for the pages of the book, because it gives that lovely nostalgic look old books have, so the Amazon version is slightly lighter cream color barely noticeable, and the print is larger, making the book thicker (404 pages in the Amazon version against the 398 of the IngramSpark version).

Once you know in advance about those little differences between the two prints, you can plan the cover accurately so to have two perfectly equal paperbacks. However, considering that those difference do not affect the general quality of the product, you can also decide to ignore them.
Personally, I am not going to make any change in this book, rather I am going to correct those small issues for the next books.

I hope this information was useful, have a great day!

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Sunday, February 17, 2019

Book Promo Sunday!

Book Promo Sunday

We have a new tradition at #OurAuthorGang.

Every Thursday we add a book promo post to our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/OurAuthorGang/photos/a.341481882941953/585806265176179/

And we pick four books from the post to promote on our blog.

Enjoy this week's selection:

AMAZON

Romance
Rebecca has just turned thirty. She’s happy living a perfectly comfortable and predictable life. She’s even ready to marry her long-time boyfriend whenever he finally gets around to asking her. But all that changes when her best friend whisks her away to Italy for a much-needed vacation.

In the midst of site seeing and finally letting loose, Rebecca manages to catch the eye of a young English tourist but doesn’t let it go to her head. By the time she’s back in the States and back in the arms of her long-time beau, Rebecca has already forgotten about Peter, Paten, Paul…whatever his name was, that is until he shows up at her brother’s cabin in the woods.

A life of normalcy, routine, and stability gets turned upside down as Rebecca decides whether or not she’s truly ready to get married. And if so, who is the one she’s really meant to be with?

AMAZON

MG/YA Heroic Fantasy Adventure
Golden Book Award Winner, a heroic fantasy adventure for middle-grade children and young adults.

Nikki and her impish cousin, Jack, find a mysterious black pumpkin in the forest on Halloween. A wise talking skeleton, Wishbone, tells them that the ghosts of the Trinity of Wishmothers are trapped inside. The children offer their help, so the skeleton takes them on a journey to the realm of Creepy Hollow to retrieve the three wands he hid long ago in Red Crow Forest, the Tower of Shadows, and the Cave of Spooks.

On her 13th birthday, Nikki discovers that she has magical powers. She and Jack return to Creepy Hollow with their friends to help them defeat Evila. Jack discovers he can talk to animals when they meet a herd of Wild Horses and he becomes friends with Champ, the clumsy young colt, and Sparky, the orphaned dragon. Nikki and Jack conquer their fears and gain courage, and in the final battle against Evila and her minions they grow into the warriors they were destined to become.

AMAZON

Mystery/Thriller/Adventure
Something keeps Laura Jefferson up at night. Maybe it’s the Boston traffic, maybe the sounds of the city outside her apartment window, maybe the stresses of day to day life. Whatever it is, when she’s offered a radical treatment at a secluded hotel, she doesn’t even hesitate.

But while the hotel is perfect, the grounds idyllic, and Dr. Wright and his staff friendly and eager to help, it isn’t long before Laura’s fellow patients begin acting strangely, some even dropping out of the program altogether, disappearing into the night. As Laura loses chunks of time, a detective arrives, and the questions at the heart of the hotel begin to unravel.

Continuing the trilogy, Deadly Deception -Insomniac- draws closer to the mystery of Dr. Wright’s research, and the lies behind Laura’s perfect night of sleep.

AMAZON

Supernatural/Horror/Crime/Thriller
Mikael was six years old when he learned his father was a murderer.

His mother, Sofia, knew there was more to it. Her husband wasn’t just a murderer, no, he was fiendish. She tried to shield Mikael from his father’s savage deeds. But when she discovered her husband, Dimitry Ivanovitch, had demonic plans for their son, she made a decision that would prove deadly if she were caught. In the dead of night, she snatched her son from his bed and fled to the safety of America. There, no longer living in fear, Mikael grew up and became a decorated homicide detective. Sofia, however, kept constant watch for signs that her husband had located them.

One hot August day, Mikael is assigned a string of kidnapping/murders of young girls. Soon another body turns up, and then another. With no suspects and no clues, the pressure proves too great for Mikael’s partner who commits suicide. Just when Mikael thinks things cannot get any worse, his father tracks him down. And now Ivanovitch is deeply involved with the Devil. He attempts to lure Mikael into his cult by dangling the name of the murderer in front of him. But the name comes with a steep price tag. Can Mikael escape his father’s clutches again? Or will he choose a fate worse than death to save the next little girl?

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Saturday, September 29, 2018

The New Member of #OurAuthorGang

A New Face in the Hood

P.J. Mann

www.paperpenandinkwell.blogspot.com

There are always mixed feelings when I am asked to introduce myself. On the one hand, it makes me eager to tell something about me and all the aspects of my life, on the other hands, there are so many things to say that it is difficult to choose what it is important to tell and what it is better to discard. Summaries have always been my weakness.

Nevertheless, I will start with the basics and starting with my name, Paula, proudly given by my father whose name was Gianpaolo, as a legacy.

In my life, there are mainly three things that I treasure; loyalty, honesty, and silence.

I work full time as a geologist and sometimes my working schedule can be quite crazy, I might get the next flight to a working site with a few hours' notice, just the time to reach home, grab some clothes, and reach the airport, from where I call my husband informing that I won’t be home for dinner.

During the free time, I write psychological thrillers, which considering my lifestyle, sounds quite natural. The way I love to relax and find peace of mind is spending my time in the forest. Living in Finland means that the forest is just behind the corner, even if you are living in the middle of the capital, Helsinki.

I have a passion for traveling. I have just reached my first milestone of 50 countries visited, and my list is still quite long. So far, my favorite continent is Africa for the sceneries, the people and their heritage. Not to talk about the feeling of freedom I get every time I jump out of the plane. I keep a blog about those experiences together with other personal considerations, so if you want and check it out, here is the link: www.paperpenandinkwell.blogspot.com

My novels are very much inspired by my travels, and the people I get to know. They all have interesting stories to tell, and I always find the way to insert them into my books.

Another passion is photography, I believe that this is another way to tell a story and one image can be worth more than thousands of words and can tell a thousand stories. Somehow, I consider it a way to complement my writing by telling my story through the lens of a camera.

About my books and my audience, I have tried to envision many times the ideal reader who would enjoy my books. Therefore, if you are an adult person who likes movies like “The shutter island,” and “Inception,” if you are interested in being challenged by different points of view, also the ones of the villain, then you are much likely going to enjoy my novels.

For me writing is also a way to get deeper into human nature and feelings, it is a way to know better myself and the rest of the world. Being an introvert, this is also a way to communicate my feelings to the rest of the world.

You can find my books for sale on Amazon following the link of my author page: www.amazon/author/pjmann

For more information about ongoing giveaways, deals, and offers, you can follow me on my website: https://pjmann2016.wixsite.com/pjmann

www.amazon/author/pjmann

You can also follow me on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/paperpenandinkwell?

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/PjMann2016

Or why not? Joining my amazing group of subscribers to my Newsletter and find out something more about being an indie author. As a welcome gift, you will get the first 77 pages(!) of my award-winning novel “A Tale of a Rough Diamond.” http://eepurl.com/dny4RL

I really hope you enjoyed reading this small introduction about me, and see you soon either on social media or on my next Newsletter.

Have a great day!

Paula J. Mann

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COMMENTS

Toi Thomas

4 months ago - Shared publicly

It good to have you here, welcome. You have such an interesting career and a smorgasbord of inspiration for your writing. I look forward to your contributions.

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