I Don't Care If a Gay Club Got Shot Up

Like the title says, I don't care that a gay club got shot up.

What?! How could I say that?!

Because it's horrific regardless of the sexual preference of the people in the club.

I don't care if the shooter had "issues" for years before this.

I'm sick of hearing about how these ultra violent psychopaths had "issues".

OBVIOUSLY!!!

But did ANYONE do ANYTHING about them???

NO

We wait until something tragic, horrible, unimaginable happens. Then we look at the killer's life with sadness and anger in our hearts.

We criticize everything about that person's life. We wonder, "Why didn't someone know before this?" Or, "Why didn't someone help this person, or put this person away before they went crazy?"

I don't care about gun control.

It's completely politically incorrect to say that, and I don't care. I'm sick of political agendas being attached to human tragedies and having those tragedies exploited for political gain.

Killing people is a tragic thing. Mass killings under any religion, terrorist group, radical beliefs, political views, or any other reason you can think of is wrong. Killing is horrible. To take a life away from this earth before it was ready is not anyone's business to do.

What about killing for a cause? Aren't there wars that have killed hundreds of thousands of people in the name of freedom, or power, or promises?

Yes, and they're wrong. All killing is wrong. It's unfortunate that we, as a human race seem to drive ourselves to it time and time again. It is the extreme we go to to prove a point. A point that we lose sight of when the killing starts.

Then it simply becomes kill or be killed. Protect yourselves and your loved ones, or surrender your weapons to a government so they will "protect" you. (Not really a fan of that last.)

So, where does this leave us as the human race? What are we doing here? Why do we keep doing this to ourselves?

Peace and love, and peace and love. We preach it, but do we practice it?

Do we love each other every single day?

Do we love the psychopaths before they commit mass murder?

Do we love the radical terrorists after they suicide bomb?

Do we love the "crazy" neighbor down the street.

Do we teach our children to love the misfit in the classroom, on the playground, on the bus? Do we love the misfit?

Because we need to. We need to love all of them as much as we love ourselves and our loved ones.

Maybe therein lies the problem...

Do we love ourselves???

If we did, I'm pretty sure we couldn't take another life, no matter the sex, race, religion, sexual preference of another.

When we start to teach our children to love themselves and to treat others as they would want to be treated (oh, is my Catholic showing? #sorrynotsorry), perhaps then we can spread the love to those who are in true need.

I do care that there was so much senseless violence over the weekend, and continues every single day in every part of the world. I pray for peace and love every day, and strength to help others in need.

Amen.

Brain to Books Sister Team Blog Tour: The First by A. Claire Everward

Today I get to post twice! Such an amazing time celebrating books, books, books!

So, to go along with our two-for-one, let's meet a duo who together have published a terrific looking novel! Not only that, but they are sisters to boot!

I am so excited to be one of the first to see the cover, and hear all about it! So it is such a thrill to be able to present it to you!

Let's meet these terrific gals!

With one sister a debuting author and the other a debuting publisher, how can it go wrong?

A. Claire Everward

Kate Anne Everward

“Forever Looking Forward”. That’s their motto. And that was what they were thinking when they decided to drop everything and just do it.

Once upon a time a sister told her sister that her imagination is going wild, that she has so much to say and stories chasing through her head (don’t worry, no voices) and that escaping into that endless world of imagination makes everything (well almost everything…) tolerable. So the sister sighed indulgently and told her sister, you want to write, write. We’ll publish. People love to read.

Anna Claire Everward is now an author with already two book series on their way. And her sister? Kate Anne Everward became her publisher and PR agent. That’s how Author & Sister was born.

Ready for the book yet?

Let's see what it's all about!

The First

A debut novel by A. Claire Everward

Find Her.

Is the ancient directive that has once again reawakened in the hearts of those who hide.

Kill Her!

Is the frantic command of those who fear their rise.

Aelia returns from a vacation that did not go quite as she expected, to a life she does not quite feel at home in but that is, at least, hers. Or so she thinks. Within days of returning she is targeted by a hit man and she has no idea why.

But then neither does he. All Kyle Rhys knows is that to protect humanity, this woman must die. At least, he thinks, killing her will be easy. After all, the organization that has raised him has prepared him for her death his entire life.

So why can’t he kill her?

What? Whaaaat? Need to know more?!

Is this cover gorgeous, or what?

Let's meet this fabulous new author!!

A. Claire Everward takes the world far too seriously. Passionate and sensitive to her surroundings, she takes it all to heart, sometimes too much so. but it makes her fight for what she believes in. She is direct, although she tries not to be, at least not always. Like every artist she has her quirks, some understand them and some don’t. She prefers to keep to herself and spend time with her characters, and for her escaping into writing is always the best refuge. She would say it maintains her sanity but her sister Kate says that sanity does tend to be overrated.

Claire spent years away from home getting an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering and a graduate degree from the same faculty, with a risk management specialty. During that time she lived in the university, surrounded by forested hills and too much silence, and so to keep away the boredom she also took on an MBA, and now she feels ridiculously over-educated.

She tried to work in her field, she really did, and even put her education to good use in the finance field for a while. But eventually her love for writing took over, and she decided to leave it all and move to the world of her imagination. Her characters had a lot to do with that—they had lived in her mind, waiting patiently for her to be ready, for too long, they felt, and so they finally decided enough is enough and took over. And Claire didn’t put up that much of a resistance. She has always loved to read, but writing, that’s a whole new world she soon knew she could never give up.

She lives with her two cats, a brown tabby named Mary Boleyn who is much smarter than her and who likes to take over her laptop exactly when she wants to write, otherwise she starts throwing all kinds of stuff off the desk, and a black cat named Henry VIII who loves to jump on top of the kitchen cabinets and scream at the ceiling. Especially at five in the morning.

Nowadays, when she’s not rudely peeping into the lives of her characters, or having in-depth conversations with them, which she does tend to do quite often, Claire actually manages to do some writing. The First is only the first of her novels. With a sequel on its way and a whole new series to follow, Claire is turning her dream to be an author, a reality.

The second half of this incredible duo!

After ten years working as a PR expert specializing in crisis and reputation management, voicing other people’s thoughts and needs and making sure they got what they want, Kate knew it’s time for a change. She’d always been a dreamer, a bookworm who escaped to her imagination when things got tough, and when her sister, another bookworm (they got it from their bookworm mother) came to her and told her she wanted to be a writer, and already had stories and books to show her, Kate decided to help her dream come true.

And so from crisis manager she became a book publisher/marketer/literary PR agent. Her career had taught her how to fight for what she believes in, and she was tenacious to begin with, and now she’s using it all. While her sister writes, Kate is learning everything she can about the traditional and self-publishing world, and is talking to anyone, anywhere out there. She and her sister Claire have now created Author & Sister, so they can publish Claire’s books and tell the world their story.

Kate lives with her laptop (Yogi) and her 10 kg gorgeous red-haired cat who never sleeps. At least not when she wants him to. She is now starting to voice her thoughts, dreams and truths in her and her sister’s blog and is even considering writing a story of her own.

Want to stalk? Here's where to go!

Author website

Publisher Website

Author on Facebook

Publisher on Facebook

Twitter and Instagram @authorandsister

Goodreads

While you're in the mood to stalk, I can't say goodbye without a self plug.  ;)

Feel free to check out my website for Sigrun, the Bandamann Saga!

Have a wonderful weekend, and have fun at the book fair!

The Call to Search Everywhen blog tour and launch party!

We're celebrating the release of Time for the Lost and the box set of the YA time travel series, The Call to Search Everywhen, with a blog tour and a Facebook party! Join the party for bookish games and giveaways. Keep reading for an except from the latest book in the series, Time for the Lost.

Read Calla and Valcas' full story in this collection of the first three books in The Call to Search Everywhen! More than 600 pages of YA time travel adventure inside the following full-length novels:

 In TRAVEL GLASSES, Calla Winston falls into a world of worlds after meeting Valcas, a time traveler who traverses time and space with a pair of altered sunglasses. He offers his further protection in exchange for a promise. After learning that his search for her was no mere coincidence, she tracks down the inventor of the Travel Glasses in hopes of discovering more about Valcas' past and motivations. With Valcas hot on her trail, Calla hopes to find what she's looking for before he catches up.

 In INSIGHT KINDLING, Calla faces charges against her for changing the past. Despite the risk of becoming lost, she accepts a dangerous travel mission that may help her find her father. She teams up with a group of talented travelers and discovers that she has a special travel talent of her own. But will that be enough to protect her and her teammates before they complete their mission?

TIME FOR THE LOST completes the story line of the first three books in the series. The travel team reunites for a mission they never saw coming: a journey to a world caught between life and death, and hidden within the deepest recesses of time. Ivory rediscovers a friend and Ray learns the meaning behind his tattoo. But the connections they make between travelers and the lost may twist the core of the Time and Space Travel Agency inside out.

Excerpt from Time for the Lost

Carefully, I climbed the clock, placing my feet on the times of other worlds, in order to see more along the top. Fragile materials supported my weight as if I weighed nothing—were nothing—but a breath of air in time and space. I climbed on, grabbing timepieces with my hands and pulling myself upward along the tower. The skin on the back of my neck prickled when I reached the topmost third of the tower. An hourglass sat perched on the tower’s tapered tip, like a golden star crowning one of Earth’s Christmas trees. The top half of the glass was mostly full. Both halves rested on a crescent moon-shaped base. The hourglass hung balanced, lightly swinging back and forth, ready to flip over when empty. I made my way back down the tower, wondering whether time ever ends, whether it could be eternal—how a system of worlds with World Builders could possibly have an end. My brain ached as I tried to make sense of it all, wondering where to begin searching for Calla. My attention turned to something bright and painful: a miniature White Tower, representing the world my parents created, the timeline of which reset when I was born. The White Tower replica had no clock hands. There were no digital measures of time, no sand trickling from the top of a glass. But I knew how the time was recorded and what time it was at the tower, based on the brightness of its glow. Like the sky which backlit the clock tower, the White Tower was a dazzling white. From what I’d learned as a child, the more brightly it glowed, the later its time and the closer to its end. I tightened my grip and groaned. “Why does every search lead back to the White Tower? Have I traveled here to the Clock Tower only to be faced with it again?” I descended a few more steps toward the base of the tower. “Is there no way to escape the past—to leave it behind me?” “You don’t appear to be biding time, friend.” I nearly fell from the tower. I glanced beneath me to see who’d spoken. The man who looked up at me was thin, with a nose as straight and long as his gangly limbs. He regarded me with eyes of purple ice. His hair, white like snow, was bound in a loose tail. Friend indeed. I exhaled, relieved. Everything about him radiated Aborealiandescent. I jumped the last few feet from the Clock Tower and signaled to him, the way I would have greeted anyone in my mother’s home country, Aboreal. His amethyst eyes met mine as he drew his lip into a thin line. He signaled back, and then frowned. “I disclaimed Aboreal long ago, but I respect the gesture.” “You’re from my mother’s homeland,” I said. “I just wanted to be sure.” The former Aborealian nodded and held out his hand. “Valcas Hall,” I said, clasping it. He grinned. “You can call me Nick.” I squinted. Aborealians had no last names, so I hadn’t expected one. Aborealian citizens were simply individuals of Aboreal. But the man’s first name didn’t fit the metric. Nick didn’t have the same significance to it as Ivory and Sable, shades of white and black. He should have had a name that reflected his wintry hair. Nick meant nothing in Aborealian. I opened my mouth to say something. “I’ve renamed,” he said. “When I denounced Aboreal, I changed my first name and adopted a surname of sorts.” “Which is?” “Time,” he said. “I’m now Nick, no longer of Aboreal, but of Time.” Nick of Time. Was this guy serious? If he noticed my cringe at the horrible pun, he didn’t show it. “What brings you to this part of the worlds, friend?” “A search.” I looked around, disturbed. “How did you get here?” “I’m the keeper of the Clock Tower. Welcome to my home.”

***

Get the series for Kindle, Nook, and iBooks.

Chess Desalls is the author of the YA time travel series, The Call to Search Everywhen. She's a longtime reader of fantasy and sci-fi novels, particularly classics and young adult fiction. Her nonfiction writing has led to academic and industry publications. She’s also a contributing editor for her local writing club’s monthly newsletter. The California Writers Club, South Bay branch, has awarded two of Chess’ stories first place for best short fiction. When she's not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling and trying to stay in tune on her flute.

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Cover Reveal: Time For the Lost by Chess Desalls

Calla's disappearance leads her family and friends to suspect that she’s lost. In a desperate attempt to find her, Valcas seeks help from a man he betrayed. A new search begins, one that sounds promising, even if it forces Valcas to confront his past. The travel team reunites for a mission they never saw coming: a journey to a world caught between life and death, and hidden within the deepest recesses of time. Ivory rediscovers a friend and Ray learns the meaning behind his tattoo. But the connections they make between travelers and the lost may twist the core of the Time and Space Travel Agency inside out. Time for the Lost is the third installment in The Call to Search Everywhen serial series. Catch up with Calla and Valcas' adventure before the third book releases in February 2016!

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ iTunes ~ Audible

About the Author

Chess Desalls is the author of the YA time travel series, The Call to Search Everywhen. She's a longtime reader of fantasy and sci-fi novels, particularly classics and young adult fiction. Her non-fiction writing has led to academic and industry publications. She’s also a contributing editor for her local writing club’s monthly newsletter. The California Writers Club, South Bay branch, has awarded two of Chess’ stories first place for best short fiction. When she's not reading or writing, she enjoys traveling and trying to stay in tune on her flute.

Connect with Chess on:

Twitter 

Facebook 

Tumblr 

Instagram 

Goodreads 

Pinterest

Cover Reveal for The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain

Well, like I said, it's a busy time in the world of authors! This week I get to introduce two of them to you (see my last post here)!

Today, I am thrilled to present a fantastic cover reveal!

Without further ado...

It’s here!

Dark, gritty psychological thriller The Phoenix Project undergoes a makeover in the brand new Booktrope edition. Completely re-edited and re-designed, don’t miss this stunning cover by the talented Amalia Chitulescu. 

The book will be available to buy soon from a wide range of digital and paperback distributors.

Author: D.M. Cain

Title: The Phoenix Project

Genre: Psychological thriller/Dark thriller/Dystopian

Book Content: Occasional adult language, graphic violence, and mild sexual content.

Original Cover Design from the first edition:  

Synopsis

How can you fight to the death, when you’ve given up on life?

A thought provoking and compelling dystopian world that will change the way you view justice...

A man fights for life—and redemption—in D. M. Cain’s riveting re-released novel, The Phoenix Project.

Britain has descended into chaos as violence and terrorist attacks seethe across this once-peaceful country. Outraged by the steady stream of lawlessness, citizens demand a harsher penal system, and the Phoenix Project is born.

In prisons across the country, inmates fight to the death in a weekly bloodbath while the nation cheers them on.

Raven Kennedy, a prisoner who has never forgiven himself for his unspeakable crime, struggles against his own guilt and self-loathing. But even as the real war wages on within himself, Raven is forced to battle some of the prison’s most ruthless killing machines. Can he survive long enough to unravel the anger and regret that shackle him—and one day find the forgiveness he seeks?

‘The Phoenix Project by D.M. Cain is a superbly written debut, soaked in tension and intrigue,’

~ Jack Croxall, author of the ‘Tethers’ trilogy.

Let's get to know D.M. Cain a little better!

D.M. Cain is a dystopian and fantasy author working for US publisher Booktrope. She has released two full length novels: The Phoenix Project - a psychological thriller set in a dystopian future, and A Chronicle of Chaos – the first in a dark fantasy series. She is currently working on the next novel in the series – 'The Shield of Soren' and a novella to accompany it.

D.M. Cain is also a member of the International Thriller Writers and is one of the creators and administrators of the online author group #Awethors.

Cain lives in Leicestershire, UK with her husband and young son, and spends her time reading, writing and reviewing books, playing RPGs and                                                                                  listening to symphonic metal.

Stalk D.M. Cain Here

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Author Interview: Samantha Clarke

It's been a busy couple of months in the book world, peeps!

Part of it is getting to meet new authors just about every day! There are indie authors, and traditional authors, and every genre you can imagine! It's a pleasure, every single time I meet one!

Today's blog is an interview with Samantha Clarke: a lovely, young author who has writing coursing through her veins!

So, let's get to it...ladies and gents...Samantha Clarke!

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I was probably twelve or thirteen, it was my freshman year of high school.


How long does it take you to write a book?

I’ve only published one book so far, but after I sat down and became serious about finishing it I was in the final stages of editing after four months.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
On days that I’m able to I will write for an hour or two in the morning, go about my day and then write for another hour or so before going to bed.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I write everything down in a notebook, including backstories, world building etc. before I type anything out.

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
From reading or from the world around me.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?
As I mentioned I recently just published my first book, but the first book I have ever written I was the last part ninth grade, so I was probably thirteen at the time.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I like to read a lot but between school, work and writing I don’t get to read very much at all.

What does your family think of your writing?
My partner and their family is a lot more supportive than my own. The only people in my family that are supportive are one of my cousins, my mother and her parents. The rest of my family doesn’t take my writing very seriously at all.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
I pay very little attention to grammar when I’m ‘in the zone’. It took me ages to edit my book and finish all of my grammatical errors.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I’ve written three, but only one has been published. I don’t plan on publishing the other two, as they were written when I was much younger.

Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Since I’m still learning the tools of the trade, I feel like I need advice more than I would be able to give it.

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
I’ve heard from a couple. They’ve all asked me when my second book is coming out and have told me that they can’t wait to read it.

Do you like to create books for adults?
Yes, however my target audience is young adults.

What do you think makes a good story?
Good world building and consistency.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
When I was very young I wanted to be a teacher and own a farm.

Thank you, Samantha!

If you'd like to find out more about Samantha, visit her here:

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