Tuesday, July 11, 2017

The Pesky Parrot #OurAuthorGang

Today I'm posting about my Award Winner bilingual children's book,
Pico, The Pesky Parrot
Pico, el Loro Latoso


In stores

Signed print

The purpose of this English and Spanish bilingual book is to show children the beauty of the English and Spanish language side by side. The story also delivers a message to children about family values, accepting people with disability and finding a solution to problems with friends as a group. Also, when we don’t take the time to listen to each other, we tend to judge others quickly before we get to know them. 

About the story:
Sarah, Emma’s mom, promised to bird-sit Pico for two weeks but soon regrets her decision because the noisy parrot keeps screeching and squawking all day, annoying her family and the neighbors. When Pico makes a mess of Emma’s room, Emma gets very angry, but her friends help her. Charlotte notices that Pico seems sad, and Pedro finds out why Pico is shrieking so loudly all the time. The parrot is frustrated because nobody pays attention to him, and nobody understands what he wants.

Review quotes:
"As a former ESL teacher, I was impressed by author Erika’s bilingual story about a pesky parrot and wondered why books like this one (written in both English and Spanish at many reading levels and interest ranges) were not available when I was teaching." ~Bette A. Stevens

"Pico the Pesky Parrot is an adorable story that teaches a strong message of compassion, community, and communication." ~Janet Balletta

 Pages from the story


English Page:
When it was time to go to the airport, Molly dropped off her bird and cat at Sarah’s house. Miau started playing with Emma’s cats right away, but Pico flew on top the sofa and started squawking. 
Pico looked at Molly with suspicion in his beady eyes. He anxiously shifted his weight from one foot to the other perching on the sofa and shrieked, “Irgr, irgr, irgr.” Pico seemed angry and afraid and started scratching the sofa cushion with her sharp claws.
“I’m so sorry Pico, but I will be back soon. Goodbye, Pico.” Molly said with tears in her eyes, and she left quickly.
Dennis, Sarah’s husband, was not happy, “This bird will drive me crazy!” he shouted.
“Not a peep out of you Dennis, I didn’t say a word when you brought your friend’s Great Dane home while he was on vacation.”
“Sorry honey, you’re right.” Dennis calmed instantly. “I’ll zip my mouth and take the screeching for two weeks without a word, I promise.”

Spanish page:
Cuando llego el momento de ir al aeropuerto, Molly llevó al loro y a la gata a casa de Sarah. Miau empezó a jugar con los gatos de Emma en seguida, pero Pico se posó sobre el sofá y empezó a gritar.
Pico miró a Molly con recelo en sus brillantes ojos —¡Irgr, irgr, irgr!
Pico parecía enfadado y asustado y empezó a arañar el cojín del sofá con sus afiladas garras. 
—Lo siento mucho, Pico, pero volveré pronto. Adiós Pico —dijo Molly con lágrimas en los ojos, y se marchó rápidamente.
Dennis, el marido de Sara, no estaba feliz.
—¡Este pájaro me va a volver loco! —gritó.
—No digas ni pío, Dennis. Cuando trajiste a casa al Gran Danés de tu amigo mientras él estaba de vacaciones, yo no dije ni una palabra.
—Lo siento, cariño, tienes razón —Se calmó rápidamente Dennis—. Cerraré la boca y aguantaré los chillidos sin decir una palabra, lo prometo.


English page:
After Charlotte had put the thought in Emma’s head that Pico might be trying to tell them something, Emma looked at the bird differently.
“I wish I knew what you want Pico,” she said to the bird.
Pico looked at her, ruffled his feathers and shrieked, “Quue, quue, quue, manzzaarrna, manzzaarrna.”
Emma got angry. “Oh, there you go again! I don’t know what you want, and I have had enough of your screeching. Shoo, get out of my room, shoo!”
The bird looked at her with sad, intelligent eyes and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Didn’t you hear me? Shoo!” Emma yelled.
Pico kicked his body up into the air and flew out of Emma’s room.
Emma felt angry and sad at the same time and a little embarrassed, “I’m trying to talk to a stupid bird,” she whispered.

Spanish page:
Después de que Charlotte le hubiera sugerido que Pico podría estar intentando decirles algo, Emma empezó a mirar al pajaro de un modo diferente.
—Ojalá supiera qué quieres, Pico —le dijó al loro.
–Pico la miró, agitó sus plumas y parloteó: – ¡Quué, quué, quué, manzzaarrna, manzzaarrna!
—¡Ya estás otra vez! No sé qué quieres y ya estoy harta de tus chillidos. ¡Vete, sal de mi habitación, vete!
El loro la miraba perspicaz con ojos tristes mientras cambiaba su peso de una pata a otra.
—¿No me has escuchado? ¡Vete! —gritó Emma.
Y de un salto, Pico salió volando de la habitación de Emma. La niña se sintió enfadada y triste a la vez, y además, un poco avergonzada.
Estoy intentando hablar con un pájaro estúpido —susurró.

Click on this link to read more pages from the book:



Click on the link and read about my books in my author magazine



COMMENTS

Erika M Szabo

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Thank you Rick :)
 
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Erika M Szabo via Google+

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
The Pesky Parrot #OurAuthorGang
Today I'm posting about my Award Winner bilingual children's book, Pico, The Pesky Parrot Pico, el Loro Latoso In stores https://books2read.com/u/mdKQdW Signed print http://www.authorerikamszabo.com/store/c36/Book_Bargain.htmlThe purpose of this English an...
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Cristina Grau

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Excellent book with great graphics for bilingual children.
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Thank you Cristina :)

Lorraine Carey

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
I love those colorful illustrations!
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Thank you Lorraine :) I illustrate all my books :)
 
You are multi-talented my dear Ms Szabo!

Joe Bonadonna

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Pico! This is such a cute story for children, as well as their families. The illustrations are lush and very eye-catching. I love the excerpt you've chosen, and offering a Spanish version to readers in wonderful. Congratulations on the award!
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Thank you Joe! This book sells the most copies out of all my children's books :) I think parents like it that the English and Spanish pages are facing in the paperback so children can compare the two languages.
 
You're welcome! That was a great idea to format the book in that fashion.

Mary Anne Yarde

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
What a fabulous children's book!
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Mackenzie Flohr

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
I have never seen a book having both languages side by side like that. What a great idea! I am surprised more books don't do this.
 
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Joe Bonadonna via Google+

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Author and illustrator Erika M Szabo talks about her bilingual, award-winning children's book, "Pico, the Pesky Parrot," and gives us a great excerpt in both English and Spanish. Come visit us at A Small Gang of Authors.
https://asmallgangofauthors.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-pesky-parrot-ourauthorgang.html
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Rick Haynes

1 year ago  -  Shared publicly
 
What a great name Pico is, especially for a parrot. The graphics look great, so colourful and vibrant. Well done Erika, it's looking good.
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Monday, July 10, 2017

Andy McNab Night #OurAuthorGang

ANDY McNAB NIGHT
By Rick Haynes


The Portsmouth Hub in England arranged a fantastic evening on the 27th of October 2016, with a talk by Andy McNab, not his real name, who served as a trooper with the SAS. He proudly told us that he was the 38th bestselling author in the UK, ever, and gave the audience a brief history of his life.
I met him beforehand and it was obvious that his attitude was down-to-earth and positive. He also signed my copy of his book, Crossfire.

Andy McNab has written an amazing 46 books - 24 fiction, 6 nonfiction and 16 for young adults. I asked him whether he has a set plan when he writes. No, he says, before saying that he starts in January, aims to knock out 80k-90k words by Easter, and then it's over to his publisher for publication in June. As he explains - I write a prologue, a three-act book, and end with a short epilogue, and bugger off before anyone gets bored.

What do you get when a baby boy is dropped off in a Harrods shopping bag on the steps of Guys Hospital in London, is adopted, allowed to do whatever he wants, turns to burglary, sent to borstal, and ends up in the army?

Perfect infantry material.

He recalled the day his life changed when an officer in the Royal Green Jackets spoke to all the new recruits.

“Those in the school next door, think you lot are ignorant. They’re right. They also think you’re stupid, they’re wrong. You’re only ignorant because no one has taught you. That changes today.”
As Andy told us, he loved page 3 of the Sun newspaper, for he didn’t need to read to see the pictures of the semi-naked models. As words meant nothing, he invented his own. He recalled the time that he sat up in bed after reading his first Janet and John book and shouted. “I can read.” He grinned as her remembered the officer telling him that’s exactly what would happen some months previously.
I loved the description of the 3 pieces of toilet paper per recruit order. He was told to use, one up – one down – and one to shine your bum.

Over the next few years, he served several tours in Ireland, winning the Military Medal (he later won the Distinguished Service Medal as well) before wanting a new challenge.

And here Andy destroyed the myth about the special application to join the SAS. “You fill in a simple form and send it off. In due course, you get a simple reply. Turn up at this time at this place and you will then be judged on whether you can pass selection.” He failed the first time but nailed the second attempt, and became a member of the Air Assault Group, B Squadron, where he served for nine years.

He worked in drug operations, counter-terrorism and undercover work in many parts of the globe, as well as becoming an army instructor.

Yet Andy McNab really came into the public eye after his exploits in the 1st Iraqi war.
Bravo Two Zero was the call sign for an SAS patrol deployed into the deserts of Iraq, in January 1991. They were there to set up an observation post to check the MSR - main supply route - from Bagdad to the North West, as well as cutting a communications line. Destroying mobile rocket -launchers was also in their brief, but finding them would be next to impossible as their designated area was about 160 miles.

In the eight-man team of Bravo 2 Zero, three died, one escaped and the others, including Andy, were finally released, yet all suffered many injuries. He glosses over the details of his incarceration, and who would blame him due to the horrendous torture the team had to endure.

Andy jumped at the chance to turn his experiences into a book.

Bravo Two Zero was his first book, and as he put it, “They asked me to write my account, and I said, why not?” This is a feature of Andy McNab’s thoughts. “If they ask me to write another book, I’d be stupid to say no, so I respond with, why not?”

Needing to pay off his mortgage, Andy decided to take a good pay off and to once more fight drug gangs in Colombia, but the book offer changed his mind, it was less dangerous.

Since then he has traveled extensively, either giving technical advice on movie sets like HEAT, assistance to film crews in hostile environments or being part of a team that walked to the south pole not that long ago. His next plans include climbing a mountain in the Arctic Circle apparently.
He is continuing to write books and told us that he had just signed up for another three-year deal. Clearly, he is one man that cannot sit still for too long.

Near the end of his talk, he spoke about psychopaths in general before taking us on a trip inside his head. He used the following as an example of how his own mind works.

“If I have a secretary and she tells me that her cat has died, I don’t care. It means nothing to me. However my mind tells me to do something, like buy her some chocolates, because I know she’s upset, but as for the cat, I don’t care.”

Andy describes this as cold empathy. His brain has been scanned apparently, and this confirms the emotion or lack of it. I thought about this and came to a conclusion. If you are working in an environment where death is a possibility every day, then surely you begin to distance yourself from nice thoughts, for you concentrate solely on personal survival. You become immune to all the blood and gore and do the job in hand.

That’s my view, yours may be different.
But I know one thing, with people like Andy McNab around, I’ll feel safer in any future crisis.

Rick Haynes
Blog: http://www.rickhaynesauthor.com/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Rick-Haynes/e/B00CK8IXFO/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rick-Haynes/e/B00CK8IXFO/

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Guest Author: Christina Weigand #OurAuthorGang

Our guest author today: 


Christina Weigand

Christina Weigand’s a writer, wife, and mother of three grown children and a middle school daughter. She is also Nana to four granddaughters. She lives with her husband and youngest daughter in Pennsylvania after a short sabbatical in the lovely state of Washington. She has three published YA Christian Fantasy novels; Palace of the Twelve Pillars: Book One, Palace of the Three Crosses: Book Two and Sanctuary of Nine Dragons: Book Three. She also has a woman’s Bible study Women of the Bible: A Study published. Recently the first book in a MG Fantasy series was published, Sir E. Robert Smythe and the School Bully with the remaining five to be published over the next year and a half. Through her writing, she strives to share the Word of God and help people young and old to realize the love and mercy He has for everyone.

What inspired you to start writing?
When I was a teenager I wrote because I loved to write. After taking a sabbatical from writing I returned to it after my fourth child was born, because I was a stay at home mom with a need for a creative outlet.

What genre do you write?
I write YA and MG Christian Fantasy.



Excerpt from the book:
"Then his gaze fell on Waldrom. Here was the man, so smug and condescending, who sought to destroy Crato and threatened his parents. He didn’t seem the least bit imposing reclining upon his throne. Disgust overwhelmed the prince, and it was all he could do not to spit on the floor. The man was the antithesis of his father, who, with his broad shoulders and compassionate demeanor, commanded the respect of all who knew him.

The king rose from the throne and waved for the guard to bring Joachim forward.

“Prince Brandan, I presume. I’m King Waldrom.”

“Prince Brandan? No, I’m Joachim.” Waldrom stepped back, and Joachim saw the fire burning in his eyes. 

 “What do you mean, you’re not Prince Brandan?”  Waldrom looked at the guard holding Joachim and waved his hand. A candelabrum flew from the wall, hitting the guard and igniting his beard. The guard swatted wildly at the flames while Waldrom advanced on Melvane, standing by the door. “How could you grab the wrong prince?”

The wizard dropped to his knees. “My Lord, our spies told us Prince Brandan would be in the training room."


Saturday, July 8, 2017

Guest Author: Barbara G.Tarn #OurAuthorGang

Our guest author today: 


Barbara G.Tarn

Barbara G.Tarn had an intense life in the Middle Ages that stuck to her through the centuries. She’s a writer, sometimes artist, mostly a world-creator and storyteller. Two of her stories received an Honorable Mention at the Writers of the Future contest. She writes, draws, ignores her day job and blogs at: http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com. She can now be found on Patreon, where you can pledge as little as 1$ a month to read exclusive content and sustain her and other creators in their endeavors. Check her Vimeo channel for book trailers and other funny stuff.

What inspired you to start writing?
Moving back to my home country in my early teens means I shut out the world and started daydreaming and writing down those stories. My first official story is from the summer 1978 and when I switched languages in the early 2000s I was already way over 500 titles in my mother tongue, Italian. Naturally, I was unpublished for over thirty years, but then I started writing in English and the Indie Revolution happened...

What genre do you write?
Since I hate this world, I write mostly SFF – well, fantasy of many kings. I have a science fantasy series (although I plan to write more sci-fi stuff this year), a fantasy secondary world with standalone books, a historical fantasy series, and even a few body switches stories (urban fantasy? Magical realism? Take your pick...)...



Excerpt: Talwar and Khanda
"A beautiful maiden with long brown hair sat on the edge of the central fountain and seemed to be competing with a bellbird as to who made the most musical sounds. Not a real song, more a melody, a humming, but he stopped to listen, enchanted.

When the bird didn't answer her, she felt his presence and turned to look at him. She had strange, ice-blue eyes – a very uncommon color in the southern lands. Her lips slowly curved into a smile.
"Hello, Ajay, I heard you were here, but you didn't come down to dinner last night," she said, rising to saunter towards him.

She was wrapped in a transparent blue veil and her short-sleeved, embroidered bodice covered her to her hips. A wide skirt came out from under it, both garments of cobalt blue fabric with golden embroidery. The veil had a golden ribbon around its edges and she wore gold jewelry – a multi-layered necklace of gold and sapphires, earrings and handflowers decorated with pearls, and golden bangles and armbands on her fair-skinned arms.

He gulped, speechless, as the beauty of her frame and her movements hit him. He couldn't for the life of him remember her name, although he should, since that eye-color... his thoughts scattered as she came closer and pretended to be ashamed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're currently nameless, aren't you?" she said. "Do you have an idea of what you'll be called tonight?"

He opened his mouth, but again no sound came out. He had no idea, and couldn't think straight. She was the most beautiful young woman he'd ever seen, but he couldn't place her among his childhood friends' faces. He shook his head, spellbound.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

This Is Me #OurAuthorGang


Rick Haynes



I was born in South London, England, not long after the end of the Second World War. My family was poor, but I never knew because my childhood was fun. I was always outside, playing in the street. I was happy.

I passed the 11+ exams and was lucky enough to be offered a place at a local grammar school, but any desire to read was lost in a world of sport and watching those strange and beautiful creatures - girls. 
My sister gave me a copy of The Devil Rides Out by Dennis Wheatley, a story of the occult and black magic. Risqué it was for a thirteen-year-old, but a revelation. Yet even though I had to study English Literature, general reading still didn’t grab me at all. 

I left school and little changed until, in my 30’s, I read the book that would engulf me. It took a long time to read The Lord of the Rings, longer to understand it and even today - having read it 7 or 8 times - I find bits that I have missed. I began to devour books, gobbling them up one after another. Anne McCaffery with her dragons, Isaac Asimov with his robots, Brian Herbert with his giant sand worms, I was hooked, but once again as the years passed my interest in reading faded.

In my 50’s an author appeared who would subsequently change my reading life forever. I read a book about a hero, Druss, a giant with a code of honour, and my love of David Gemmell’s work exploded. 
Like a kid I fell under the spell of pure imagination, yet whilst I still had no desire to write, I’d fallen in love with reading once more. I collected all his books and have read them many times since.

But time waits for no one and my body started the downward spiral into decay. I was diagnosed with cervical spondylitis in the neck in 2006 and was forced to give up my job that I loved, due to the pain, but I wasn’t finished at the hospital, not by a long way. I went so many times that they nearly gave me my own parking space. As if? But as a substitute, they did give me a lollipop for being a good boy.

In all, I had 7 knee ops, 2 shoulder ops, several injections in my neck and was diagnosed asthmatic.  
Why is it they give you a nice shiny metal knee and forget the oil can? My knee squeaks louder than a horde of mice at times. 

After so many months of housebound imprisonment, I was sitting in the lounge, feeling sorry for myself and going stir crazy as the walls closed in. I shouted, asking my wife where I should go, to release me from my incarceration.

‘Try the kitchen,’ she said. 

‘Come on love, what should I do?’ I asked seriously.

‘Try the washing up,’ she said. That didn’t go down too well either.

But then my beloved suggested that I write my feelings down. It was that wonderful light bulb moment. I was up the stairs just faster than a snail, and I started typing. Only I couldn’t type - and I still can’t even now - but I’m a tenacious sod and I refused to give in.

I eventually wrote a diary of getting old. I had no idea what to do next but a new local writing group had started and I joined. Full of pride, I showed them my diary. Euphoria lasted just 5 minutes as I saw their faces. They were trying to be kind but sympathy was written all over their faces.  My writing was crap; I was crap. I did the only thing that I could. I listened, learned and spread my wings through the written word. My teacher was very inspirational and her style of teaching suited my fledging career perfectly.

I started writing Drabbles, those little 100 word gems, and won an international Drabble competition. 
SPECTRAL MORNING by Rick Haynes

As the dew gently caressed the leaves in the wood, a soft light slowly grew in luminance. The coalescing sparkles began to take the shape of a young girl. A pure white gown swished and swirled around her as she moved towards the graveyard, her slender feet leaving no tracks in the soft soil. 
The fresh grave had been hastily refilled but all her attention was focused on the sobbing cries of a terrified infant.

Holding out her hands to the cold earth, she spoke soothingly.

“Come forth you beautiful child, for I will take you to your true home.”

From that I got my first break. Four authors had decided to write an adult story for Halloween, Drabble style, but one pulled out and I was invited. It’s a naughty, sexy, adult tale, as you can guess from the name of my character HumpZeLot. I was way out of my comfort zone but it was great fun to write, and all the proceeds went to a charity.

My confidence grew. Along came a novella for all the family, short stories and eventually two novels.
Yet being an author is not all a bed of roses as you can’t please everyone. For those that want me to change, I say this - throw money at me, lots of it, and I’ll think about it.

Thanks to Tolkien and Gemmell, my passion is heroic fantasy, but writing my first novel, Evil Never Dies scarred me to death. Maybe the title had something to do with it. I remember talking to myself. ‘How do I start? Where do I start?’ I had the shakes, the trembling and the panic as it suddenly hit me that I was writing a novel. In the end, the answer was simple. I found the right cover and drew a map of my imaginary world, and then I was up and running like a three legged donkey. The imagination flowed, I became a recluse, and divorce papers were issued. 

Eventually, Evil Never Dies was professionally edited and published. We took a holiday as my wonderful wife needed a break more than I did. How she puts up with me is beyond all logic and I love her dearly for all her wonderful support. 

I am pleased to say that so far it has received 15 reviews all 4 or 5 star. And it made my day when 2 top reviewers likened by book to those of the great David Gemmell.

After a good break, to recharge my batteries, I started the follow-up but had no idea where it was going. Heroes Never Fade is the 2nd in the Maxilla trilogy but is a standalone book. It follows on about one year after the first book. It’s once more a tale of good and evil, yet shows that all men and women are flawed, for I show that war brings out the best and the worst in even the gentlest of folk. Once more a reviewer has compared my work to that of David Gemmell, but this time it was an Amazon top 500 reviewer after reading Heroes Never Fade. My head is currently in the clouds but with much humility.

Heroes Never Fade has.

Short chapters – I want you to keep turning the pages.

Strong male and female characters – I want you to emphasize with them.

Many twists – It’s a good job I have an editor who loves my genre.

As one well-respected reviewer posted, “To say it is a well- researched book shows how believably the characters, both human and fantasy, have been created. A definite 5* for fans of the genre, and highly recommended for other lesser mortals.”

That is a tiny insight into the world of my creation as all is never as it seems.

When I finished the book and it had been edited, my mind refused to function. It was if all my imagination had been used up as my head was as empty as a new dustbin. Once devoid of all superfluous thought my brain initially failed to respond to a long list of chores that I had promised to do over the previous 12 months. What a pity. I thought I’d got away with it. 

I’ll continue to write until my time is up, for the power of my imagination is beyond measure and I love to see my words on paper. Like tiny seeds, they gradually grow and blossom into one magnificent tree.

I always say this to my wife. This time next year love, we’ll be millionaires, so I’ll leave you with this thought.

If you don’t have dreams, how can they ever come true?

Thanks very much for reading. Please let me know what you think.

Love and laughter. 
Rick.


Heroic fantasy


Heroic fantasy


Humorous fiction


Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Independence Day #OurAuthorGang

Happy 4th of July



"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."
~John Adams


Quoted from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

"John Adams's prediction was off by two days, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.

Independence Day, also referred to as the Fourth of July or July Fourth, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and were no longer part of the British Empire. The Congress actually voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2.

Historians have long disputed whether members of Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

Coincidentally, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, another Founding Father who was elected as President, also died on July 4, 1831. He was the third President in a row who died on the anniversary of independence. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born on July 4, 1872; so far he is the only U.S. President to have been born on Independence Day."

Monday, July 3, 2017

Adorable Westies (most of the time) #OurAuthorGang




Waiting for me to get up
Right now I am house-sitting in France for two beautiful West Highland White Terriers, better known as Westies.
The property is situated on the Alps Mariners.
I am in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. It is a beautiful area, with deep green lush mountains, and picturesque tiny villages in the valleys. Beautiful landscape, and nothing to do. But that is why I took this house-sit, this way I can catch up on my writing.
The Westies are great, we go for walks, and then they vegetate by my feet or next to me on the couch.
I have been house-sitting all over the world for the last eight years, and a few days ago I had to do something I never had to do before: take the dogs to the vet.
The female got a rash, and it got infected.
The vet gave me a medicated shampoo that I have to do every other day for 15 days and antibiotics that she needs to take for ten days.
She loves to take baths, and I soon as I say “let’s take a bath” she runs upstairs and stands by the tub waiting to be put in, so no problems there.
As for the male… he is a pain in the butt.
He has a little rash on a paw, so I have to use the medicated shampoo on his paws every day.
Well… easier say than done.
           He hides, so I have to look for him all over the house, then carry him upstairs, put him in the tub and try to put the shampoo on his paws while he runs from one end of the tub to the other one.
Back and forth, back and forth…
He doesn’t like it when I touch his paw, so he bites, so, I got him a plastic cone.
Problem solved, no more bites.
Yeah!!!
Now, just waiting for the infection to go away.



Sleeping in my room

Waiting for me to finish my shower

The house and backyard

I have two windows in my bedroom.
 The view from the front window.

View from back window

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Pick a Book #OurAuthorGang

We need your honest opinion



Usually, books either get praise or negative opinion from readers in the form of reviews.

This time we ask the readers to give us constructive criticism about how our books are presented on selling sites. 
The authors agonize over the book title until they find the perfect one but it's not necessarily sound perfect to the readers.
The authors think about what the book cover should look like and exchange fifty or so emails with the book cover artist until they find the best color, composition, and the type of fonts to use. It might look perfect to the author and artist but it might not grab the reader's attention.
In my experience, writing the best blurb, that is short, enticing, and catchy, besides finding readers to read my books, is one of the hardest part of publishing. I often joke about it that I'd rather write a novella than a blurb for a novel, but it's true. What sounds good to me is not necessarily sound intriguing enough to readers.

Today we're asking readers to help us with your constructive criticism to improve the presentation of our books.

Pick a Book

Pick the cover that grabs you at first glance.
Click on the link below the book, read the blurb and preview on the selling site.
Come back and tell us in comment what you liked or didn't like about the book presentation.
Your opinion about the book titles, covers, and book descriptions will
help the authors to improve the presentation of their books.

Thank you in the name of every author in Our Author Gang!

ROMANCE BOOKS




FANTASY BOOKS







































NON-FICTION, HUMOR, POETRY







 SPANISH BOOKS









Thank you for your time!
Your opinion about the book titles, covers, and book descriptions
help the authors to improve the presentation of their books.

Saturday, July 1, 2017

A Small Gang of Authors: We Did It! #OurAuthorGang

A Small Gang of Authors: We Did It! #OurAuthorGang: Our Author Gang is featured in the Golden Box Books Publishing July Magazine issue. The Semifinalists of the Golden Quill Award Conte...

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