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Coincidence, faith, or just one of those things we can't explain.
Coincidence, faith, or just one of those things we can't explain.
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Friday, January 19, 2018
Don’t forget the Villains #OurAuthorGang
By Rich Feitelberg
When I was a teen and still learning my craft, I bought this book by Stan Lee of Marvel Comics fame, Bring on the Bad Guys. The book highlights some of the baddest villains Marvel ever created, the point being that you can’t have a story without a protagonist. In fantasy novels, like the ones I write, that includes monsters. Even now as I revise the next book in the Aglaril Cycle, I am considering different opponents for the heroes to fight because without them the story seems flat or to be easy for them. The heroes need to struggle like Hercules at his labors so that the reader says “Wow! look at all they had to overcome and they still succeeded.”
A word of caution here, it is possible to go too far. You don’t want a slugfest where all the heroes do is fight monsters and villains from the start of the story to the end. You need to balance it. How do you know you have the right mix? You test read the story. You can also see where the story slows down. That might be a good place to add something.
In Book 6 of the Aglaril Cycle, I found several places where I skipped over several hours with the vague sentence akin to: “They continued on their journey for the next several hours and stopped to eat at noon.” That’s a red flag to fill least part of the morning with a monster or some other encounter that will prevent the reader from dozing off.
Remember you need to keep your readers engaged or they will go elsewhere. You don’t want that. So don’t forget the villains or the monsters.
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Book in the Spotlight: Dragons of the North #OurAuthorGang
Dragons of the North: Box Set
Rebecca Tran
Several months ago I reached a lull in my writing. I was discouraged over low sales and felt like I hit a wall. I knew what I was writing was good but no one was reading it. Frustrated, I took a break and purchased a $0.99 shifter romance on Amazon. It was a new genre for me. It sounded like fun though. I gave it a whirl, and I was hooked. One book became the whole series.
Soon I had a sexy dragon shifter of my own stuck in my head. But, who was his leading lady? Who needed the perfect man? Then it hit me. My best friend struggled to find Mr. Right. She needed a happy ending more than anyone I knew. I started writing what I thought would be a short story. I planned to send it to her as a surprise. The more I wrote though the more the story took on a life of its own.
The series dedication reads: 'This set of romance novellas is dedicated to my best friend Crystal who inspired one of the characters. I hope she finds someone who loves her as much as I do.' It's a sentiment that I repeat throughout the stories. I think everyone deserves to find someone who loves them and makes them truly happy. While this series began as a present for a friend I now hope it brings happiness to many more readers.
Taylor stretched onto her toes to cover the eight inches of difference between them. She’d never felt short until she met Chase. She kissed him gently, testing to see how he would respond. Hisarm wrapped around her pulling Taylor close to his body. Her lips parted inviting him in, and Chase’s tongue swept into her mouth. It was electric. She’d never felt anything like that before. He was gorgeous, and a remarkable kisser and he was hers. 'Mine' her heart sang.
Taylor let go stepping away. She looked at Chase a long moment still reeling from their kiss and the sudden feeling deep inside her. Taylor’s heart was pounding. Why would she think that? Why? She had to get away. Taylor went into his room and shut the door. She leaned against it and locked the handle to keep herself from doing something she’d regret later. Chase stood on the other side of the door a long moment before leaving without a word. Taylor wondered if she made a huge mistake.
✯✯✯✯✯
EVERYTHING ABOUT KISSING Taylor felt so right. 'Mate' and 'Mine'. Kept going through Chase’s head. He quit fighting it. If this is what it felt like to kiss his mate, he was ready to embrace it. He couldn’t imagine a better choice than Taylor.
If you would like to read this set of novellas it will be released 1/25/18. It is available for pre-order now on Amazon and other book retailers. If you would like to receive updates, exclusive content, and freebies sign up for my newsletter . For a complete list of my work visit my author page or my website.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Searching for King Arthur — Nennius #Arthurian #legend #OurAuthorGang
Searching for King Arthur — Nennius.
Looking
for King Arthur is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Almost impossible, but for me it is very difficult to resist such a challange.
One
of the earliest written accounts of Arthur was given to us by a 9th-century
monk who went by the name of Nennius. Nennius wrote Historia Brittonum — The
History of the Britons. It is not an easy read. Structure and organisation were
two words Nennius chose to ignore. But it is worth persevering with his work
because there are some real gems in there.
 |
| Amazon |
What
I love about the work of Nennius is how he portrays Arthur. Think of a Dark Age
version of Iron Man and you might be getting somewhere. However, nowhere in The History of the Britons does Nennius describe Arthur as a King.
"then
Arthur fought against them in those days with the Kings of Briton, but he
himself was leader of battles."
Has
time and folklore turned a general into a King?
Most definately.
So
what does Nennius say about Arthur? First and foremost, he describes Arthur as
a great warrior and lists the twelve battles which Arthur led. I am not going
to describe all the battles here, but I am briefly going to look at the two
most interesting.
Battle number 8
"The
eighth battle was in Fort Guinnion in which Arthur carried the image of St
Mary, ever virgin, on his shoulder..."
With
old text, I think we have to be very careful as to how we translate them. And I
believe that the translation here is wrong. I do not think that Arthur carried
an image of St Mary on his shoulder. I think he carried the image on his
shield, which would make slightly more sense. Ignoring the translation, it does
tell us that Arthur was a Christian.
Battle
number 12
"The
twelfth battle was at Mount Badon, in which nine hundred and sixty men fell in
one day from one charge from Arthur, and no one overthrew them except himself
alone."
Badon
Hill
This
is the most famous battle that Arthur fought in. It is generally accepted that
this was Arthur's greatest triumph and he did hold back the Saxon
invasion. Did Arthur slay 960 men in a
single charge without any help? Probably not. Was he a great military man?
Almost certainly.
Arthur,
whoever he was, had captured the imagination of a nation and in later works, he
became the hero that we all know and love.
Take a journey back to Dark Age Briton
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Winter Skin Part 2 #Our AuthorGang
Winter skincare
While we would love to have winter skin like this:
Most likely, it feels like this:
I studied Natural Healing and my philosophy as a Naturopath is that “If you can’t eat or drink it safely, don’t put it on your skin either”.
In my first Winter Skin post, I talked about how I clean and exfoliate my skin: https://asmallgangofauthors.blogspot.com/2018_01_04_archive.html
In this post, I'll talk about how I moisturize. I’ve been using my grandmother's special blend of oils.
Why do I use oils?
Our ancestors used base and essential oils for centuries with great success. The first documented beauty was Cleopatra, she used almond and rose oils to keep her skin supple and beautiful. Only the past 50 years or so since the cosmetic industry developed thousands of creams and lotions, using essential oils to moisturize skin became taboo. Why? Simply because selling natural oils is not profitable.
The cosmetic industry provides us with thousands and thousands of skin care products. The question is: do you want to use them if you’re conscious about your health?
Let’s talk about creams and lotions:
When you try to read and understand the long list of the ingredients on creams and lotions, I bet you give up after reading the second line.
We’re so careful nowadays with what we’re putting into our stomachs. What about our skin? Everything that we apply to our skin goes right into our body as well. The long list of chemicals can affect not only your skin but also your organs by creating yet unknown chemical bonds and reactions as well as hormonal changes. Nobody would suspect an innocent looking moisturizer 15 years from now as a cause of some of your health or autoimmune problems.
They say, don’t put oil on your skin, but the truth is that in order to make a cream, you need base oil, stabilizer, and preservative to cook it into a cream. So, you have been putting oils on your skin, just not the right ones.
The truth is that all most creams and lotions do is just strip the natural sebum and dead skin from the top layer of your skin and add a thin layer that gives you the feeling of soft and moisturized skin.
However, just staying in a dry room for a short time makes your skin dry and thirsty for moisture, because below the top layer, your skin is stripped and dehydrated.
The myth that facial oils cause breakouts and clog your pores is nothing but a myth. Quality facial oils, when used correctly, can protect and nourish your skin without clogging your pores or affect your health.
“If you can’t eat or drink it safely, don’t put it on your skin either”.
BASE & ESSENTIAL OILS PROPERTIES:
Rose oil - promotes cell turnover and has anti-wrinkle properties
Sweet almond oil - excellent antioxidant, very absorbent, emollient, softens, soothes and balances the skin. High in vitamin B17 that is known cancer preventing vitamin.
Rosehip oil - smooths wrinkles and softens dry, dehydrated skin, high in essential fatty acids
Hazelnut oil - astringent, anti-inflammatory, rich in vitamins
Avocado oil - deep moisturizer, rich in vitamins
Jojoba oil - a natural antioxidant, its absorption properties are similar to the skin’s own sebum, deep moisturizer
Vitamin E oil - anti-oxidant, smooth scars and heals acne
Geranium essential oil - balances oily skin helps heal acne, eczema, dermatitis
Lemongrass essential oil - anti-wrinkle properties, hydrating, nourishing
Lavender essential oil -balancing, rejuvenating
Neroli essential oil - helps restore skin's PH balance, rejuvenates wrinkled, weathered skin
Chamomile essential oil - soothes dry, inflamed skin, anti-inflammatory
Frankincense essential oil - rejuvenates, balances all skin types
Juniper essential oil - clears oily, congested skin
Orange essential oil - lifts and tightens slack skin, wrinkle reducer
Ylang-ylang essential oil - excellent toner, rejuvenates skin, wrinkle reducer
Apricot kernel oil - softens and protects the skin without leaving an oily residue, smooths existing wrinkles and prevents new wrinkle formation. It contains a high amount of vitamin B17 which is a cancer-prevention vitamin.
My favorite blend is still grandma's recipe:
I add a few drops of rose, lemongrass, apricot kernel, and lavender oils to a base almond oil.
I apply a thin layer to my skin, head to toe, in the shower, after I washed, and then give it a quick rinse and tap dry my skin.
I'm a writer too, I write children's books and fantasy novels.
If you have a few minutes, click on this link and take a look at my books:
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