Tag Archives: books

Do you devour books? I mean love to read?

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REVIEWERS WANTED!  Looking for some passionate book lovers willing to soak up magical dimensions and live to tell of their journeys.

Wanna take a magical ride and follow the yellow brick road?

I am currently being flooded with book review requests and can’t possibly oblige all them all in a timely manner by myself.

Basically…I NEED HELP!  Reading is my number ONE passion with writing riding my tail in a close second.

Being a self-published author, I am well acquainted with the struggles and importance of reviews, I want to help other authors!

So, I am looking for a few that would want to read some amazing stories, discover new authors, all in exchange for an honest review to be posted on paranormalromancewritings.com, Amazon, and Goodreads.

Interested?  Drop me an email!

 

 

 

NightWalker by Ime Atakpa

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The Thrush Family has suffered a terrible curse for three hundred years. The most recent victim in the family, Hubert has been inflicted and tortured by the night walks.

Watching his parents mourn his disappearance, he discovers himself being tortured continuously by the eerie silence and inability to be heard or take action. After much pain and self-loathing, he decides that nothing is impossible. He will find a way for restoration and end the torment his parents as well as himself endures.

NightWalker by Ime Atakpa is extremely well written and has perfect grammar and editing. The author has a skill of developing the story and the characters. The main character, Hubert, faces a dilemma and though the storyline is well groomed, the beginning is drawn out, almost drowns out the plot and direction.

The pieces will fall together and hook you in if you give it the chance. The author has left an opening for Hubert’s story to continue and I am hoping Book 1 is just an introduction to the real jewels of this adventure.

My advice and suggestion for the author are to lighten the load of over describing the minute details in the beginning and keep it simple. Sometimes less is more.

I give NightWalker by Ime Atakpa a rating of Three. This is NOT a bad rating, it means I like the story and the characters but there are improvements that could be made.

New Orleans Experience – Day Five and Six

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Yes 2 days in one! I know, I know!  I needed another day in bed to recover from this cold! It sucks getting sick on vacation.  Thankfully the hubby got me cold meds and a huge bottle of vitamin C, which I have been probably overdosing on but it works!

So moving forward to Day Six…I made myself get up and get ready.  We strolled through the streets of the French Quarter searching for an authentic voodoo shop.  I desperately wanted to find something for my best friend.  After browsing through a few shops claiming to be voodoo, I quickly discovered that these shops are not really authentic at all but mostly commercialized.

They all had multiple displays of oils, incense, and even voodoo dolls that seemed of cheap quality but were for sale with a high price tag.  Now, for those with an open mind and soul, you know who you are, when you go into certain places, places that you know have a certain mystical attraction, you can feel the energy.  Something in the air whether it is the hair on the back of your neck standing, a calm or nervous feeling, or a small breeze that whispers through your hair that feels like a touch.

Well I expected to feel something.  All of these shops had an altar on display, roped off with a sign that said “Do Not Touch”.  Even with that altar display, there was no energy, no feeling…nothing.  The only vibe I got was the feel of someone trying to take advantage of tourists, claiming to be authentic and persuade visitors to empty their pockets and wallets for the cheap trinkets that they sold.

I knew right away they weren’t real.  But remembering what a Haitan waiter told us that the truly authentic voodoo shops could only be found in the swamps, I was about to give up on finding that special gift for my friend.  I decided to buy a coffee mug and a poster from the Marie Laveau VooDoo Shop (yes it felt commercialized as well) instead of that special charmed gift that I had hoped would call out to me.

After making my purchases and feeling very disappointed, the hubby and I cut down one of the smaller side streets, enjoying the view and the hubby found a spot that was filmed on NCIS New Orleans that he took a picture of.

Right close to the spot where he took his picture I found this little shop that caught my attention right away.  Mind you this shop was on a side street, no traffic at all, on foot or in a car.  There was nothing else on this street but residential homes and a gated parking area.

IMG_1299The sign hanging above the door had an energy and called out to me!  We went inside and I could feel the energy right away.  There was a feeling of peace and excitement at the same time.  There were items for sale but there weren’t huge supplies of these items.  Also these items didn’t seem cheap in quality either.

We browsed and chatted with the lady in the shop.  Come to find out, she was a palm-reader and she hosted (by appointment only) sessions for readings as well as special vampire/ghost tours that you would not find in the tourist attraction brochures.  If you would like to visit their website, click on the picture.  If you want to visit physically, their address is:

Carpe Noctem Boutique du Vampyre

709 1/2 St. Ann

New Orleans, LA  70116

As we kept chatting with her I found a shelf with special items on display.  No I won’t tell you what that item was because that was what called out to me, that special gift for my best friend, and I don’t want her to read this before I get home and know what her gift is, (Love you Gwen).

Anyways, there a little sign attached to the shelf giving instructions that you choose the main gift, but the lady in the shop would pick out special charms for you that would go inside the item.  So I asked her about those items.  She explained she would get a feel or read from you and she would pick out the charms just for you.

Butterflies exploded in my stomach!  I explained to her that I was searching for a gift for my best friend and asked if she could get a feel for her.  She said sure after she asked some questions about my friend.

PERFECT!

I answered her questions and she  picked out the charms.  I didn’t get to see the charms, so I don’t know what they are and they are hidden inside the gift.

This wonderful lady also gave us a special map to some hidden places that you don’t find on any of the ghost tours.  I loved her!!  And there were many more items in the shop I really wanted to buy.

But after saying our goodbyes and an invitation to come back for a private session and tour with my best friend, we made our way to Frenchman Street.  There we found the jazz and blues clubs.

We picked one and ordered a cocktail…only $5…and listened to the music while we relaxed.  I loved it!

Later we strolled down the streets heading back to our resort but made a quick stop at a Cigar Factory while hubby bought and enjoyed a hand-rolled cigar.

Today was a wonderful day and I look forward to what we have on the schedule for tomorrow.

 

New Orleans Experience – Day One!

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The day started off with my husband and I enjoying a casual southern breakfast in our hometown before heading to the airport. Yes it was the first day of our long-awaited vacation to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary that took place two years ago.

Huh?  Grins…well yes, we were not able to do anything special for our 20th so we planned to celebrate a couple of years later.

Anyways, we arrived at the airport, very excited because we also obtained First class tickets and couldn’t wait to begin our journey.

Checking in our bags, we were delayed because apparently MY ticket had an error.  Because my name is Christina and my husband’s name is Christopher, with our last name being the same, customer service mistakenly booked both of the tickets under my husband’s name.  AAARRRRGGGHHHH!  I swear we did not plan it that way with our names.  Luckily the mistake was fixed and we headed to the priority security access gate.

There we both were chosen for Random pat-downs.  All of the security personnel were male so we had to wait a few minutes for them to call a female security officer to pat ME down.  Another UGH!

Not caring that  it was still before 12:00pm, we headed straight to the bar and ordered a double Bay Breeze and Bloody Mary to melt away the small mishaps.  Little did I know that particular moment would begin an alcohol pattern for the rest of the day.

After finishing our drinks, we casually made our way to the gate where we would board the First plane towards our destination. There wasn’t a long wait but there were a lot of people waiting to board.  I grinned secretly knowing that this time, I would not be one of those people waiting a long time to board the plane.  Sure enough, the intercom came on, with the pleasant voice of airport employee announcing that First Class could now board.

We were the last ones to arrive at the gate and the first ones to walk through the long tunnel leading to the plane.  What a wonderful feeling! Selfish I know but it still felt great!

We sat in the first two seats near the front of the plane with wide comfortable seats and plenty of leg room.  Already I was hooked on this First class thing!

Before the coach passengers boarded, the flight attendants asked us if we wanted a drink.  She then began to name all of the drinks available, lo and behold there was a long list of alcoholic drinks.  We both chose a liquor and coke.  Remembering that my recently passed Grandmother used to enjoy a Jack and coke, that is what I ordered.  The hubby chose Disaronno and coke.

After a few sips, I realized that I did NOT have a taste for Jack and Coke, maybe because it was so STRONG, but whatever the case I didn’t like it.  Hubby let me taste his drink and instantly I fell in love.

Yep, that’s right!!! I stole his drink.

Our flight was quick and we knew there would be NO time for any bathroom breaks, so we both decided to use the bathroom before we began the descent.  I went first with no problems and hubby went after me.  What I am going to tell you next was the highlight of my day and I still giggle just thinking about it.  First let me explain that when we left our hometown, there was a storm brewing, a result from Hurricane Joaquin beating on the East coast.  This caused the flight turbulence to be a little more rough than usual.

Hubby came out of the lavatory and whispered to me that he had hard time relieving himself.  Breaking my attention away from reading, I asked him why.

The turbulence was so bad that he couldn’t aim for the toilet and was all over the place!  I laughed so hard, now having that mental picture in my head.  There was a new reinforced appreciation for being a female that welled up within me.

We talked and laughed and before long, we had to exit the plane, the first ones off, and RUN to our next gate.  Literally we had to run dodging people along the way, from one side of the airport to the other side with only ten minutes to get there.

Finally after losing our breath and our calves burning, we made it to the next gate with a couple of minutes to spare before boarding, again the first ones to board.

On this flight when asked what kind of drink I wanted, I ordered the drink I stole from the hubby on the first flight.  Our flight attendant was amazing and really super nice.  She suggested that I try ginger ale instead of coke.  I went with her suggestion and that drink was amazing!  I have discovered a NEW favorite drink.

Well the beginning of the trip started off slightly stressful but if it hadn’t then we wouldn’t have wanted a drink, therefore discovering something new and adding another item to our favorite list.  I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason!!

We arrived in New Orleans, grabbed our luggage and our rental car, and made it safely to the resort in downtown.  We are in walking distance of EVERYTHING.  We went to a local favorite Mother’s Restaurant, found a Walmart (whoo hoo!) to get a few groceries for the condo, and then retired to relax and watch tv.

Not sure if we are going to return the rental car or not.  Possibly will use the car to travel to River Road just outside of downtown to explore some plantations, etc but I believe the rest of the trip, we will explore everything in downtown and especially in the French Quarter.

Until Day 2…

My rant!!!

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Something has been bugging me and irritating me and I just got to get it off my chest.  I hope you don’t mind.  Anyways, as a writer (published) I sent 3 of my books to a dear friend of mine.  I signed all the books because that friend had wanted me too.  I obliged because it made me feel giddy and excited.  

Well that friend received my books and they were so excited they took a picture and posted them on a facebook group that we both belong too!  I was so honored and thrilled.

Someone in the group immediately started bashing and saying they hoped the author signed it and was such a horrible thing to receive books from author without them being signed and how if that is the case then the author doesn’t really appreciate the reader or care.

HERE IS MY RANT: 

First of all, why would you immediately start jumping into something that would stir up negative attitudes and vibes? 

Second, the person was receiving the books is a personal friend and even stated so in the post.  The friend never said anything that was hateful or leading to any kind of rant, just complete excitement.

Third,  even IF I DID NOT sign the books, it does mean that the person is not appreciated because, I paid for those books out of my own pocket.  I wanted my dear friend to have a copy of my work so I paid to have the paperbacks printed for my friend.

Am I missing something? Doesn’t that show my appreciation?

I believe there are alot of people out there, that are not aware of all the hardwork indie/self writers/authors put forth into their art.  We are not one of those authors that are lucky enough to receive a publishing/agent contract, we are not making millions of dollars, if we are lucky enough to receive a couple paperback copies at no cost – the rest we have to pay for ( at a discount of course).

Writing is not my money-maker, it is my passion.  I do it for myself and feel blessed when someone wants to buy and read what I bled out on paper.

Or maybe there are some people out there that just want to stir the big black cauldron…well, not maybe, for sure!

Ok, I feel so much better now.  Those pot stirrers will not get me down and destroy my happiness or my friendships!  

So on a positive note…I believe that instead of arguing, saying something back with people like this and giving them fuel for their fire, I should turn this around to something positive!!!!

So I am debating on offering that person an ebook or paperback.  What are your thoughts?  Or should I just ignore it all together and move on???

I would love to hear your opinions.