For Authors For Bloggers Beck Valley Books is an influential book review site and book tour host - Book Reviewer Yellow Pages A dream to work with, professional, helpful beyond measure plus working with her is one of the best things I've done to promote my eBook - author Lisa Consiglio Ryan I love working with you - you're kind, encouraging and effective! Thanks for all you do for all of us authors! - author Kaira Rouda I knew I had met someone who would handle my books like they were her own. Truly a pleasure doing business with you! - author Melissa Foster Your service and perseverance to assure that the tour ran smoothly enabled its success. I cannot express my appreciation enough - author Joyce Strand Amazingly organized, efficient and stays on top of the details. Her professionalism is outstanding, communication skills unparalleled and she's even rather adept at hand-holding when it is necessary - author Barbara Boswell Brunner Thanks so much to you and all of your wonderful reviewers! I've had phenomenal success from this blog tour - author Delia Colvin

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Book Review - Emotional Amoral Egoism by Dr Nayef R F Al-Rodham

Book Review
Sustainable History
"emotional amoral egoism"
A Neurophilosophical Theory of Human Nature and its Universal Security Implications
by Dr Nayef R F Al-Rodhan

About the Author 
Nayef Al-RodhanDr. Nayef Al-Rodhan is a Philosopher, Neuroscientist and Geostrategist.  He is Senior Member of St. Antony’s College at Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom and Senior Scholar in Geostrategy and Director of the Geopolitics of Globalisation and Transnational Security Programme at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Geneva, Switzerland.  He holds an M.D. and a Ph.D. He trained in neurosurgery/neuroscience research at the Mayo Clinic, Yale University and Harvard University.

He founded the neurotechnology programme, headed translational research and founded the laboratory for cellular neurosurgery and neurosurgical technology at MGH, Harvard. He was on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School, has published extensively on neuroscience research and won several research prizes. These Prizes include: The Sir James Spence Prize; The Gibb Prize; The Farquhar-Murray Prize; The American Association of Neurological Surgeon Poster Prize (twice); The Meninger Prize; The Annual Resident Prize of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons; The Young Investigator Prize of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons; The Annual Fellowship Prize of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.


Book Description
The enduring assumption that human behaviour is governed by innate morality and reason is at odds with the persistence of human deprivation, injustice, brutality, inequality and conflict. This book offers a fresh look at human nature and universal security by proposing a new general theory of human nature, "emotional amoral egoism", and a specific theory of human motivation that draws on a wide range of philosophical, psychological and evolutionary approaches to human nature as well as neuroscientific research. It argues that human behaviour is governed primarily by emotional self-interest and that the human mind is a predisposed tabula rasa. The author argues that most human beings are innately neither moral nor immoral but rather amoral. Circumstances will determine the survival value of humankind's moral compass. This insight has profound implications for the re-ordering of governance mechanisms at all levels with a strong emphasis on the role of society and the global system. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the substrates of human nature and its universal security implications in relation to identity, conflict, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, morality and global governance.

Nayef-Al-Rodhan
Our Book Review
An extremely well researched and informative book into what constitutes not just what makes us think the way we do but also the way we act.  The author uses clear and concise explanations and illustrations to explain his theories and to back up his statements.

An excellent study book which you need to read in a quiet or undisturbed room to fully appreciate and understand.  In certain parts the text may need reading a couple of times.  Students of psychology or philosophy must read this book to help further their learning.

I especially enjoyed the introduction and beginning of the book as the author uses famous philosophers to explain our behaviours and ideas with reasoned and balanced logic, he follows this by describing factors and/or influences that can have an impact on how we behave or react.

The second part of the book deals in more depth of how these factors and influences affect our way of thinking and how it is difficult for humans to change our nature or beliefs and offers theories on how we can change.

This is the second book that I have read by this particular author and this again did not disappoint, the area of mind and brain and its workings have been a mystery for centuries and this books goes a long way to answering or offering solutions to those questions.

"Humankind is conceived as primarily motivated by neurochemically mediated emotions resulting from genetic make-up and environmental influences, employing reason and engaging in conscious reflection only occasionally." 

Our Rating
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amazon.co.uk            amazon.com

Winner of How To Drink While Dieting is...................

THE WINNER OF OUR 
HOW TO DRINK WHILE DIETING GIVEAWAY
IS

MISHA K

CONGRATULATIONS !!!



Special thanks to our author, Michael Cecchin, for this great prize x

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Winner of the Morrigan Big Celebration Giveaway is..................


THE EXTREMELY LUCKY WINNER
OF THE MORRIGAN BIG CELEBRATION GIVEAWAY

IS

TONI P

CONGRATULATIONS !!

Winner of the Mommy Bear Giveaway is...................

$100 Mommy Bear Media Gift Certificate

THE LUCKY WINNER OF THE
MOMMY BEAR GIVEAWAY IS

NADENE A

CONGRATULATIONS !!

Friday, September 28, 2012

The Book of Paul by Richard Long Author Interview PLUS Fantastic Giveaway

Please enjoy this interview with Richard Long, author of the nail-biting supernatural thriller, The Book of Paul. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author.   

1. Tell us about the spark of inspiration that eventually grew into The Book of Paul. 
The initial inspiration for The Book of Paul came when I wrote the first line of the first chapter called Exercises: “He practiced smiling.” I wanted to explore a character who had been so damaged by childhood trauma that he could no longer feel compassion, joy, affection, and had, accordingly, committed all kinds of horrible acts. I wondered if such a person could ever regain his emotional capacity and be redeemed by love. 

2. What was the research process like for this book (which can at times deal with some pretty heady and—frankly—grotesque goings-on)? Any horror stories to share? 
There are many aspects to the story, so the research was really extensive. I love doing the research almost as much as the writing, so it’s a joy for me to read and learn so many new things. The creation mythology literally goes back to square one and builds from there, tracing the history of Hermetic and Gnostic philosophy, alchemy, druidism and pagan mythology--particularly Egyptian, Greek and Celtic traditions. There’s also a strong science fiction element involving quantum physics, artificial intelligence, life extension and what’s known as The Singularity. Other lines of exploration involved Irish genealogy and what I call the pain culture: tattoos, elaborate piercings and body modifications. 

I made some gruesome discoveries along the way. The most disturbing was the Extreme Body Modification website I stumbled upon, which is one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever seen. I first saw it in the early days of the Internet, which is pretty amazing in itself. I checked recently and it’s still there, though I didn’t have the stomach to peek inside again. I’m actually as squeamish as some of my readers about certain things, which is probably why the horror comes across so vividly. If something scares the hell out of me, it’s easy for me to convey that fear and revulsion. 

3. Tell us about Paul. Who is he and what is his book about? 
The Book is a 4th century codex, the only one of it’s kind. How and why it was made and what it contains is one of the central mysteries of the series, so I’m not going to spill those beans. Paul is every bit as mysterious. When he is first introduced you might think he’s a serial killer involved with the occult in some way. As the story progresses you discover some really unexpected things about him. One thing is clear from the outset – he is one very nasty piece of work. I’ve always felt that any horror novel or thriller is only as good as the villain. I definitely aimed for the fences with Paul. 

4. There is a strong tarot undercurrent to this novel. The protagonist even makes his living by reading the cards. Why did you decide to work it into The Book of Paul, and how does it surface throughout the course of the story? 
I actually did tarot and numerology readings when I lived in the East Village many years ago. The tarot led me to a lot of dark occult explorations, which are mirrored in William’s journey. I was lucky enough to pull out of that nosedive and hop over to the Buddhist side of the fence. William is not so fortunate. The reader gets drawn into William’s world through his first person narration as he talks about becoming a collector of ancient occult manuscripts, which leads him to the tarot. Then he gradually reveals more through his journal entries, which contain the meat of the mythology and all the Hermetic and Gnostic lore. Finally, he discovers that the tarot is actually related to an apocalyptic prophecy, which Paul is determined to fulfill by any means necessary, which is very bad news for Billy. 

5. At almost 500 pages, this is not a short novel. From start to finish, how long did it take you to write, revise, and ready for publication? 
I’ve written over 2,000 pages for The Book of Paul and the series. The first draft of this volume was close to a thousand pages long. I cut out eight characters and their storylines in the second draft, which netted my first agent. She wanted a lower page count, so many of the narrator’s interior musings were cut. Those were actually some of my favorite sections. Then I moved to another agent and he wanted more of the mythology put back in, so it grew close to this size. After six months he hadn’t sold it, so I got sick of the whole process, wrote it the way I wanted, and published it. 

6. The concept of synchronicity plays heavily in this novel. What attracts you to it, and has it proven a heavy influence in your own life? 
I’ve always been a spiritual seeker. I was raised as a Catholic, but the nuns effectively beat those beliefs out of me quickly. Even as a kid, I couldn’t accept the idea of God as the big guy in the sky with the white beard. Science and mythology and my own imagination showed me all kind of possibilities. I first noticed synchronicity when the number eleven kept showing up for me all over the place--addresses, hotel rooms, etc. Someone suggested I get a book on numerology and I discovered that eleven was my “name number” and also a power number. I started noticing all kinds of things after that, coincidences that were just too weird to brush away. Then I read some Jung, and when I got into quantum physics that sealed the deal. Synchronicity for me now is the manifestation of interconnectedness in the universe. There is nothing you can perceive that isn’t connected to you. As the Buddhists say, “no separate self.” 

7. Paul is... scary (we’ll leave it at that). How were you able to effectively become this deranged character, and how did you hang on to your own humanity after the fact? 
I would imagine it’s much the same as when Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal Lecter. He was very disdainful of method actors who got all caught up in identifying with their characters. There’s a famous story about Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman on the set of Marathon Man. Hoffman was a method actor and he stayed up all night before their torture scene together and Olivier said something like, “Why don’t you try acting, dear boy?” 

That being said, I’m not immune to being disturbed by these things. When I wrote the traumatic scenes of him and Martin--well, I cried when I wrote them and they stayed with me for days. So maybe the method is working for me too.

Paul is great to write because it’s like letting my Id out of a cage. I get to play out my most evil imaginings and nobody gets hurt. I also had to find Paul’s humanity to make him really interesting for me. I didn’t want him to be some cartoon monster. Paul is also in a lot of pain; he was traumatized as a boy and his life was changed forever. By the end of the story you get to see many other sides of him. And of course, there’s a lot more to come. 

8. Irish mythology is woven into The Book of Paul, and at one point, Paul even makes a sarcastic quip about the luck of the Irish. Why Irish, and how all does its culture influence the story? 
When I’m writing, I go into a daydream state where I imagine the character and what he or she looks like and where they are and what they’re doing. No outline usually. I sit back and watch and listen. If it’s great the way I imagine it, then writing the dialog is like taking dictation. When I wrote the first chapters with Paul, I was surprised because I kept hearing him speak with an Irish brogue, but his accent went in and out – sometimes really thick, sometimes a little lilt, sometimes no accent at all. So I’m thinking, what’s that about? 

I come from Irish American stock, but my parents told me absolutely nothing about their parents other than to say they were cruel. So that’s the starting point with Paul. He’s the ultimate bad dad. The more I explored Paul, the deeper it led me into Celtic mythology, Irish genealogy and history. I suppose I’m trying to find the missing links of my own heritage. My grandmother was born in Ireland, so I have dual citizenship, even though I haven’t been there yet. I’m thinking I’ll go next year when I’m writing the third sequel. 

9. The Book of Paul is unlike anything I’ve ever read before, and in that way, it can be difficult to classify. So tell us, who is your target audience for this novel? 
Given the fact that there are some rough episodes in the story, you might think that the so-called target audience would be men who are into horror, thrills and mayhem. But women actually seem to be my biggest, or at least, my most vocal fans. I’ve been getting some really enthusiastic reviews from men, but even more so from women, who surprisingly seem less squeamish than some of the male reviewers. 

The Book of Paul doesn’t fit into any neat, tidy genre. It’s very complex and like you say, unlike anything I’ve read before either. There’s a Pulp Fiction element to it, with quirky characters in a seedy environment. There’s a major religious/mythological mystery for the Dan Brown crowd. It’s very funny, but incredibly poignant. It’s very disturbing, but there are lots of fast-paced action scenes. There’s romance and kinky sex. Something for everybody. 

10. Why did you decide to self-publish The Book of Paul, and how has the journey been so far?
Read above. The traditional publishing industry in general is like a boxer on the ropes in the tenth round. For fiction it’s even worse. Add first-time novelist to the list and sprinkle on an unclassifiable genre for a little seasoning. I had two agents who were well known and successful, and very enthusiastic about the book. But the editors they reached wouldn’t take a chance on it. I could have kept trying, but frankly, I ran out of patience. 

How has it been so far? The book is out in the world and it’s just the way I wanted it. I have complete control over everything I do, including the cover art, which is also exactly how I want it. The marketing is a lot of hard work, particularly the social marketing, which I had never done before. But that’s turned out to be a lot of fun too. I’m meeting so many great people--other authors and readers--and getting such a strong response on the book that it feels like a vindication. See? I told you so. Nyah! Nyah! Nyah! 

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Book of Paul eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author. 

All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:
  1. Purchase your copy of The Book of Paul for just 99 cents
  2. Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicit or below
  3. Visit today’s featured social media event
About The Book of Paul: A cross-genre thriller that combines the brooding horror of Silence of the Lambs with the biting humor of Pulp Fiction. Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

About the author: Richard Long is the author of The Book of Paul and the forthcoming young-adult fantasy series The Dream Palace. He lives in Manhattan with his wonderful wife, two amazing children and wicked black cat, Merlin.

Visit Richard on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads. a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Sunday is Quote Day

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Time for book lovers to get together - its the Weekly Book Blog Hop !!

Beck Valley Books Weekly Book Blog Hop
Hosted by Beck Valley Books
Our Book Blog Hop is here to unite all booklovers worldwide, readers, book reviewers, authors, publishers, book bloggers, book sellers, putting you all in touch with each other and keeping real books alive x

We would love it if you could share our hop with all your booky friends 
and display are book hop badge (optional obviously x)

F
irst follow our blog using Google Friend Connect, leave a comment and we will always follow back,
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FREE BLOGGER OPP - iPad 3 Give Away

iPad3 Holiday Event is hosted by Mom Blog Society.

Prize: iPad3
The event dates: 10/4 - 11/1
Free Event ~ Sign-Up Here

Winner of The Avengers Graphic Novel is..............

avengers graphic novel giveaway

THE LUCKY WINNER OF THE 
AVENGERS GRAPHIC NOVEL IS

STEPHEN N

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Winners of The Lust Garden Giveaway are............


WINNERS OF THE LUST GARDEN GIVEAWAY ARE

ELISABETH G
ALEX C
KYLIE C
BETH E
BRITTANIE B

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

JK Rowling does it again !!


The Casual Vacancy
A million pre-orders have already been placed for JK Rowling's new 'adult' novel The Casual Vacancy.
UK booksellers expect it to be the best-selling fiction title of the year and Philip Stone, charts editor at The Bookseller magazine, told AFP: "It's one of the biggest releases of the 21st century. I think 99.9 percent of us (in the industry) are predicting it will go straight to number one."
Bookshops are expected to open early for the launch of the novel at 8am on Thursday and pre-orders at Waterstone’s are the highest of the year so far.
The last book in Rowling's Harry Potter series sold 2.5 million in its first 24 hours in the UK alone, although few are expecting the new book to emulate this figure.
Currently the record for most hardback sales in a first week for an adults’ novel stands at 550,000 for The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s eagerly-awaited 2009 follow-up to The Da Vinci Code.
Book Description - When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…. Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town’s council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.

Guardian.co.uk

Win The Avengers Graphic Novel Give Away !!

The Avengers DVD releases today!
Have you seen it yet?
To celebrate, we're doing an Exclusive Avengers Graphic Novel Giveaway
This graphic novel is only available when you buy the BluRay/DVD/Novel Combo at Walmart. 
Would you like to be the first of your Avenger Friends to own this copy? 
Not interested for yourself? Then keep it for a Christmas Pressie!

Avengers Graphic Novel Giveaway


Really simple to win! 
Just fill out the form below. 
Giveaway will end at 9 PM Wednesday, September 26. 
Winner will be announced and prize will be shipped immediately! US entries/winner only.

avengers graphic novel giveaway

The Graphic Novel is soft cover, full color - about 100 pages long. It has been read one time.

avengers graphic novel giveaway
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The Book of Paul by Richard Long Excerpt and Fantastic Give Away

Please enjoy this excerpt from The Book of Paul, a nail-biting supernatural thriller by Richard Long. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author.   

Monsters: An Excerpt from The Book of Paul

by Richard Long


You tell your children not to be afraid. You tell them everything will be all right. You tell them Mommy and Daddy will always be there. You tell them lies.

Paul looked out the filthy window and watched the little girl playing in the filthier street below. Hopscotch. He didn’t think kids played hopscotch anymore. Not in this neighborhood. Hip-hopscotch, maybe.

“Hhmph! What do you think about that?”

Paul watched the little black girl toss her pebble or cigarette butt or whatever it was to square number five, then expertly hop, hop, hop her way safely to the square and back. She was dressed in a clean, fresh, red-gingham dress with matching red bows in her neatly braided pigtails. She looked so fresh and clean and happy that he wondered what she was doing on this shithole street.

The girl was playing all by herself. Hop, hop, hop. Hop, hop, hop. She was completely absorbed in her hopping and scotching and Paul was equally absorbed watching every skip and shuffle. No one walked by and only a single taxi ruffled the otherworldly calm.

Paul leaned closer, his keen ears straining to pick up the faint sound of her shiny leather shoes scraping against the grimy concrete. He focused even more intently and heard the even fainter lilt of her soft voice. Was she singing? He pressed his ear against the glass and listened. Sure enough, she was singing. Paul smiled and closed his eyes and let the sound pour into his ear like a rich, fragrant wine.

“One, two, buckle my shoe. Three, four, shut the door…”

He listened with his eyes closed. Her soft sweet voice rose higher and higher until…the singing suddenly stopped. Paul’s eyes snapped open. The girl was gone. He craned his neck quickly to the left and saw her being pulled roughly down the street. The puller was a large, light-skinned black man, tugging on her hand/arm every two seconds like he was dragging a dog by its leash. At first, he guessed that the man was her father, a commodity as rare in this part of town as a fresh-scrubbed girl playing hopscotch. Then he wondered if he wasn’t her father after all. Maybe he was one of those kinds of men, one of those monsters that would take a sweet, pure thing to a dark, dirty place and…

And do whatever a monster like that wanted to do.

Paul pressed his face against the glass and caught a last fleeting glance of the big brown man and the tiny red-checkered girl. He watched the way he yanked on her arm, how he shook his finger, how he stooped down to slap her face and finally concluded that he was indeed her one and only Daddy dear. Who else would dare to act that way in public?

“Kids!” Paul huffed. “The kids these days!”

He laughed loud enough to rattle the windows. Then his face hardened by degrees as he pictured the yanking daddy and the formerly happy girl. Hmmm, maybe he was one of those prowling monsters after all. Paul shuddered at the thought of what a man like that would do. He imagined the scene unfolding step by step, grunting as the vision became more and more precise. “Hhmph!” he snorted after a particularly gruesome imagining. “What kind of a bug could get inside your brain and make you do a thing like that?”

“Monsters! Monsters!” he shouted, rambling back into the wasteland of his labyrinthine apartments, twisting and turning through the maze of lightless hallways as if being led by a seeing-eye dog. He walked and turned and walked some more, comforted as always by the darkness. Finally, he came to a halt and pushed hard against a wall.

His hidden sanctuary opened like Ali Baba’s cave, glowing with the treasures it contained. He stepped inside and saw the figure resting (well, not exactly resting) between the flickering candles. At the sound of his footsteps, the body on the altar twitched frantically. Paul moved closer, rubbing a smooth fingertip across the wet, trembling skin and raised it to his lips. It tasted like fear. He gazed down at the man, his eyes moving slowly from his ashen face to the rusty nails holding him so firmly in place. The warm, dark blood shining on the wooden altar made him think about the red-gingham bunny again.

“Monsters,” he said, more softly this time, wishing he weren’t so busy. As much as he would enjoy it, there simply wasn’t enough time to clean up this mess, prepare for his guests and track her down. Well, not her, precisely. Her angry tugging dad. Not that Paul had any trouble killing little girls, you understand. It just wasn’t his thing. Given a choice, he would much rather kill her father. And make her watch.

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Book of Paul eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author.

All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:
  1. Purchase your copy of The Book of Paul for just 99 cents
  2. Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicitor below
  3. Visit today’s featured social media event
About The Book of Paul: A cross-genre thriller that combines the brooding horror of Silence of the Lambs with the biting humor of Pulp Fiction. Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

About the author: Richard Long is the author of The Book of Paul and the forthcoming young-adult fantasy series The Dream Palace. He lives in Manhattan with his wonderful wife, two amazing children and wicked black cat, Merlin.

Visit Richard on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads. a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Monday, September 24, 2012

Around The Blogosphere !! Add Your Events !!

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The Book of Paul by Richard Long Guest Post and Fantastic Give Away

Please enjoy this guest post by Richard Long, author of the nail-biting supernatural thriller, The Book of Paul. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author.

The Tarot

A guest post by Richard Long


Laura gave me my first tarot deck. It was a Crowley. A lot of people get creeped out by Crowley decks, much as they would have been creeped out by Crowley, I imagine. He called himself ‘The Great Beast.’ To me, he seemed more like a big joke.

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law!”

Stop it, you’re killing me.
***
You just read the opening lines of The Bone King, a prequel to The Book of Paul. They happen to be true. Laura gave me my first deck. I still have it and use it. In fact, I’ll be using it shortly to provide Skype tarot readings for two lucky winners of my Whirlwind Blog Tour. I’m looking forward to the readings. The winners? I suppose that depends on which cards come up.

Actually, I don’t give scary tarot readings, I just write about scary tarot readings. People have enough fear and stress in their lives without me throwing more gas on the flames. Besides, the three scariest trump cards--The Hanged Man, Death and The Tower--can all be interpreted in very unscary ways. Most of the time.

William, the narrator of The Book of Paul, lives in the East Village/Alphabet City of New York in the years before gentrification made it a much less fun and frightening place. He makes a living doing tarot and numerology readings, same as the author did at the time. Like me, he is also a collector, but that’s where the similarities end. He collects ancient occult codices, some covered in human skin. He collects other things that are even more…disturbing.

The mythology of The Book of Paul is based largely on my very unique (so unique you’ll never see it anywhere else) interpretation of the twenty-two trump cards of the tarot. As William endeavors to unravel Paul’s nefarious intentions, he discovers an arrangement of the trumps that reveals the true story being told. In the following excerpt from one of William’s journal entries, Paul congratulates William on his discovery (which is not revealed, so no spoiler alert!) and rewards his efforts with a very special gift to add to his collection, and the promise of an even greater prize.

A fabulous tarot reading from Richard Long? A Kindle Fire? No, William isn’t as lucky as three of you wonderful readers. He’s about to have his very first look at The Book of Paul, a gift that comes with a very hefty price tag.
***
“You’ve done exceptionally well here,” Paul said, “but you’re never gonna get to the bottom of this no matter how many of those old books you poke your nose into.”

“And that’s because…”

“For starters, those writings were deliberately intended to disguise the truth in countless metaphors and scrambled codes to keep the idiots at bay. They’ve been translated, and re-translated back into the original demotic, Coptic or Greek countless times, every scribe adding his own pontifical touch in his glorious interpretation. Of the more accurate writings, there’s more missing from the tracts than what remains, as you’ve seen in the Drivel of Mary. You’ve about as much luck hitting pay dirt in those dustbins as those literalist born-agains have of seeing the Rapture. However, I have a gift for you that should prove far more enlightening, if you apply yourself with half the dedication of these research efforts.”

He reached deeply into his pocket and told me to close my eyes. “Don’t go using yer second sight and spoil the surprise.” I nodded and felt him place a large rectangular object in my left hand. “Okay, open ’em.”

It was a tarot deck. Older than any I’d seen. The paintings were incredibly detailed and absolutely exquisite. I turned them over one by one, The Hero, The Herald, The Oracle—all the trumps labeled with Paul’s titles. “These are amazing!” I said, awed and yes, flattered by his incredible gift. I had a hard time spitting it out, but I managed to say, “Thank you.”

“You’ve earned it,” he grunted, taking the cards back before I had a chance to look at the rest of them, setting the cards down gently on the table. “But don’t stay up too late gazing at them. This deck can be quite…entrancing.”

“Is there something else I should know about it?” I asked apprehensively.

“Indeed, there is. Get a good night’s sleep and meet me in the chapel tomorrow. I’m bumping you up to the advanced class, so make sure your eyes are bright and your head is clear. You’ve earned a little taste of the Gospel according to Paul.”

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Book of Paul eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include a Kindle Fire, $300 in Amazon gift cards, 5 autographed copies of the book, and a look into your future through a free tarot reading performed by the author.

All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win! To win the prizes:
  1. Purchase your copy of The Book of Paul for just 99 cents
  2. Enter the Rafflecopter on Novel Publicity or below
  3. Visit today’s featured social media event
About The Book of Paul: A cross-genre thriller that combines the brooding horror of Silence of the Lambs with the biting humor of Pulp Fiction. Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

About the author: Richard Long is the author of The Book of Paul and the forthcoming young-adult fantasy series The Dream Palace. He lives in Manhattan with his wonderful wife, two amazing children and wicked black cat, Merlin.

Visit Richard on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads. a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Diary's House by C David Murphy Blog Tour and Give Away

A Diary's House: Where True Love Endures

A Diary’s House is about adventure, lost love, and the hope that dreams, even those in the final years of life, can at last prevail. It is of a young boy’s attempt to become a man, the once-lost secrets of a diary, a sweeping romance which transcends time and place. It is more than a boy’s journey into manhood, but the mysteries of so many lives unknowingly intertwined, now brought together in a climatic ending; all from the engrossing world embedded in a forgotten diary; a diary of a woman.

 Born in the vast and looming mountains of North Carolina during the 1870’s, Landon Hampshire always remembered the folklore and legendary tales his father told him during his early childhood; about the people of the Kituhwa (Cherokee) and the birth of this tribal nation – an enchanting story he could never forget. Incorporating the aid of an eccentric old French trapper (old man Montague), Landon and his friends set out on an adventure, their initial intention is to discover treasure and become men. But what Landon will eventually come to discover is more than he ever bargained for.

Landon didn't realize his boyhood adventure would yield the incredible journey he ultimately experiences - going down the mysterious and mystical Randola River. At the base of the river is an island even more mysterious than the Randola itself. The island releases many of its mysterious, yet even many more are created when Landon discovers, on the island, a diary of a young woman who lived forty years prior during the 1830’s (Trail of Tears). The diary entries are hopeful, though haunting. It reveals, in intimate detail, the life and dreams of this very special young girl who is turning into a woman of beauty and adventure, her love for a Cherokee boy, and the trials she will ultimately face. Her story unfolds through the reading of her diary, and Landon suddenly finds himself caught up in a sweeping, empowering world of re-invention and ultimate redemption.

C. David Murphy I am a writer; first and foremost. Anyone who reads my works will instantly know this. I have found no greater joy on this earth than to be close to God and nature; exploring the serenity of landscapes, waterfalls, epic mountains, meadows and grasslands. To sit on those spots of earth and write to where my imagination will take me yields a tremendous amount of peace and serenity.. To create characters with true and genuine emotions, feel their heartbeat thru every word I write; their trails, their hopes and ambitions; to breathe life into their eyes and see their soul become one with me and the reader is absolutely amazing. I simply love to create on that venue and canvas; to affect change in the lives of others. It is my hope, when someone picks up my stories and reads the full weight of them, that somehow I have affected change in their lives, brought them to places they could never have imagined before, and moved them to believe in humanity again – to go out into the world and create ‘goodwill towards all’.

The Diary’s House is C David Murphy’s first digitally published novel. He is also the author of two Shakespearean-style genre plays In the Years of the Ages and Hildengrass. He is currently finalizing his next novel, When Tomorrow Never Comes and The Chronicles of Good and Evil – Dracula’s Lair / The Darkest Tower, both due out later this year. Also, the sequel to A Diary’s House is in the works – The Long Journey Home due out the first part of 2013.

Follow Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

Buy Amazon /Barnes & Noble /Smashwords / Kobo

The author is having a contest for a KINDLE FIRE and 5 autographed copies of the book!! 
Fill out the form below to for a Chance to win. Ends October 31 
Open US/ Can a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Follow the Tour

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Winners of the Signed Book Giveaway Enlightenment For Nitwits are........


THE LUCKY WINNERS OF
THE SIGNED BOOK GIVEAWAY FOR
ENLIGHTENMENT FOR NITWITS ARE

DM Carson
L David
L Hogan

Congratulations!!!


Special thanks to our author, Shepherd Hoodwin, for these fantastic prizes x


Haven't Won??  Don't Despair !!

For a limited time only Shepherd has a very special offer on his book :-)

$9.95 each plus FREE U.S. SHIPPING! (Usual price $14.95)
Limited time only! Lowest price anywhere.
You can order the book from HERE

Crashers Signed Book Winners are...............

THE LUCKY WINNERS OF THE
CRASHERS SIGNED BOOK GIVEAWAY ARE

MP Whelan
V Zumbrum
E Baker

CONGRATULATIONS !!!


Special thanks to the author for these fantastic prizes x

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Spot the Difference ?? Why REAL books will always survive !!

Can You Spot The Difference ??


Reason why REAL books will always be around !!!

HUNTER MOON Winners are.........................


WINNERS OF THE HUNTER MOON GIVEAWAY

ARE

DEEDEE B
MISSY L
RACHEL F

CONGRATULATIONS !!

Friday, September 21, 2012

The Dreaded Topic of Head Lice with help from Linicin

Now the children have returned to school I have another term of worrying about head lice.   This has to be one of the most horrid things to check for in my book, the thought of them just make me cringe! Ever since the boys started infants and then junior school it has been a cycle of head lice, treatment and then a gap and back round again.

lice

I'm not going to stand on my soap box and lecture lol BUT if every parent treated their child's head lice properly until it had completely gone then this would not be the case, instead the parents who do treat it spend their money and time on something they know will only return.  I'm sure some parents in the school even ignore the problem.

Here are the facts:-

  • Most common among children between 3-12 years old.
  • Female head lice lay eggs (called nits) that are smaller than a pinhead. 
  • They use a kind of glue to make sure they stay around 1cm close to the scalp.
  • The egg cases and the nits are white and it’s easy to mistake them for flakes of dry skin.
  • About 9 to 10 days later the eggs hatch.
  • When lice hatch they leave empty egg cases behind that stay attached to the hair.
  • These young lice are called nymphs.
  • In another 12 days they become adult lice and can then lay new eggs.
  • Lice can only live for a short time away from the head – no longer than 48 hours.
  • Head lice cannot hop, fly or swim - although they can crawl up to 30cm per minute.
  • Head lice do not live on pets such as cats and dogs.

My youngest has just moved into senior school with his older brother so I am hoping and crossing my fingers that I have seen the last of the problem.  The slight issue is that I am still a Dinner Nanny at an infant and junior school so I do have a slight risk of being infected, but hopefully not as much as the children.

I have tried quite a few different types of head lice treatment over the years, the latest one, I was given to try out, was the Linicin 10 minute Shampoo.  This is a very easy way to treat head lice and the boys gave it a big thumbs up as, unlike other products we have used, there was no nasty smell.  Simple to use, we just wet their hair and dried it lightly with a towel, then we used around half the bottle of the shampoo on each and gave it a good rub, left it for the recommended 10 minutes and rinsed out, followed by combing through the wet hair with a head lice comb.  What impressed me was there was their hair was not left greasy in any way from the product.

linicin product range

As well as the 10 minute shampoo Linicin also do the 15 minute Lotion which comes with a free fine-teethed steel comb and the Preventive Spray.  What I liked was that their products do not contain insecticides and are odourless, more importantly are not tested on animals. 

You can purchase the shampoo or any one of their products online from Chemist.net


MVM Giveaway Linkup !!

Welcome to the best Giveaway Linkup on the web hosted by Moms with Voices Media! This is a great place to list and find giveaways hosted all around the blogosphere by some great bloggers.

  • List your giveaways below.
  • Hop over and enter 1 or 2 (or all) of the giveaways! If you're the lucky winner, we'd love to hear!

For more giveaways, sweeps and contests, check out our Giveaway Group on Facebook.




Join our new facebook group
Sunday is Quote Day

Thursday, September 20, 2012

$200 Fall Give Away Event - You Choose The Prize !!

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Welcome to The Awesome Have It Your Way BlogGY Giveaway!

This wonderful event is brought to you by,
Jenn's Blah Blah Blog, Dishin' With Rebelle, and Contest 4 That,who will proudly be launching Pink Ninja Media in the next few weeks.
Special thanks to our wonderful co-hosts Zoes Printable Coupons, PrewChatterly Everything Girly, Capri's Coupons,
How would you like to win a giveaway where YOU CHOOSE THE PRIZE ??  Well here is your chance !! This fabulous giveaway let's the winner choose anything they would like for $200, which must include shipping.  So what would you like - Paypal Cash, Kindle, Toys, Amazon Giftcard, Clothes, Handbags, YOU WIN YOU CHOOSE !!

Details:
  • Giveaway is open Worldwide.
  • Giveaway will end on October 20, 2012 at 11:59pm EST.
  • One Lucky Person Will Win ANYTHING THEY WANT, valued up to $200 with shipping.
  • Please use the Rafflecopter form below to enter.
  • We realize there's a lot of bloggers, so we added extra entries! Earn an additional 25 entries for completing certain tasks on the Rafflecopter. Remember you only have to complete mandatory entries to enter the giveaway, the rest are extra entries. Giveaway runs an entire month so you don't have to finish it in one sitting, remember to come back for daily tasks to earn more. You'll also be introduced to some AMAZING Bloggers, each blogger in this event is awesome and brings something special and unique.
Disclaimer: This blog is not responsible for shipment of prize, Jenn's Blah Blah Blog will be responsible for shipping prize to winner. I did not accept any form of payment to help promote this giveaway.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

It's The Weekly Book Blog Hop Time !!

Beck Valley Books Weekly Book Blog Hop
Hosted by Beck Valley Books
Our Book Blog Hop is here to unite all booklovers worldwide, readers, book reviewers, authors, publishers, book bloggers, book sellers, putting you all in touch with each other and keeping real books alive x

We would love it if you could share our hop with all your booky friends 
and display are book hop badge (optional obviously x)

F
irst follow our blog using Google Friend Connect, leave a comment and we will always follow back,
then add your blogs and giveaways below.....
Remember to leave a comment on each blog for a follow back!!
Now included are Library Thing / Book Likes / Shelfari links xx 
(these will be left on each week to save you finding them again lol )


Share on your blog so your readers can join in :-)
While Your Here also join in our 'Follow My Pins' Pinterest Hop
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