Judith Leger's Blog, page 4

Blog Tour: Justice by Jennifer Harlow

JUSTICE-Jennifer Harlowhttp://www.jenniferharlowbooks.comhttp://blog.jenniferharlowbooks.com  Tales From the Darkside BlogTwitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jenharlowbooksFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennifer.harl...Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jenharlowbooks/e-mail: jenniferharlowbooks@yahoo.com





























JUSTICE BLURB:

 “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” –E. Burke

For Det. Joanna Fallon, it’s damn hard being a police officer in Galilee Falls, a city with the highest concentration of superheroes and villains in the country, and working under the specter of the city’s champion, Justice. It’s even harder watching her best friend, the man she’s secretly in love, with planning to marry another woman while keeping the growing relationship with her boss a secret.

When the city’s vilest supervillain, acid spewing Alkaline, escapes from maximum security prison, and an attack close to home, Joanna must contend with her increasing fear and prejudices while struggling to choose between her soul-mate and her new-found love.

With a coy blend of whimsy and vivid imagination, Justice delivers humor and thrills in an action-packed and edgy blend of comic book cool, fantasy-noir, hard-boiled mystery, and bitter-sweet romance. 

GALILEE RISING (BOOK 2) blurb:

Love in the time of superheroes...

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” -Confucius 

The year since Galilee Falls lost its reigning superhero Justice has not been kind to Joanna Fallon. She's lost her best friend, her boyfriend, her badge, even her mind. The city of Galilee Falls hasn't fared much better with supervillain related crime skyrocketing to cataclysmic proportions. Deliverance for the city arrives in the guise of The Royal Triumvirate--King Tempest, Lady Liberty, and Lord Nightingale--who vow to be the heroes the city needs. Salvation for Joanna appears in the brilliant form of Dr. Jem Ambrose, another lost soul in need of saving. But salvation comes with a high price. When Emperor Cain, an old nemesis of The Triumvirate, decides he will stop at nothing to make sure there is no city left to defend, it is up to Joanna to rise not only for her city, for her new love, but for herself as well…


BUY LINKS:


Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/jenni...Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...Kobo:  http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Sear...Itunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id68...Amazon UK:   http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_n...
































Bio:

Jennifer Harlow spent her restless childhood fighting with her three brothers and scaring the heck out of herself with horror movies and books. She grew up to earn a degree at the University of Virginia which she put to use as a radio DJ, crisis hotline volunteer, bookseller, lab assistant, wedding coordinator, and government investigator. Currently she calls Northern Virginia home but that restless itch is ever present. In her free time, she continues to scare the beejepers out of herself watching scary movies and opening her credit card bills. She is the author of the Amazon best-selling F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad, Midnight Magic Mystery series along with The Galilee Falls Trilogy and the steampunk serial Verity Hart Vs The Vampyres. For the soundtrack to her books and other goodies visit her at www.jenniferharlowbooks.com

Blog Tour: Reclaiming Souls by Arielle Caldwell

Blurb:
     
When a person dies, sometimes, they are given judgment and sent straight to heaven or hell. Most sit in purgatory while a select few are given a second chance at life. If they screw up and awaken the monster that sleeps dormant inside us all, it’s my job to reclaim their soul and set the balance of nature right again. My name is Devalynn Rose. After my death, I have been tasked as a Soul Collector.
                                                     
Kale swept into my afterlife when he got his second chance. While watching his judgment, I cannot unlock my eyes from his. I am left stunned with feelings of déjà vu.

Kellin is also a Collector. We connect on a deeper level and I can’t help the feelings that overwhelm me for him.
                                                     
Reclaiming souls is a faulty system that desperately needs repair. I am left with two options...to lose my memory and reform the system or keep my memory and nothing changes. With time ticking away, I need to make a choice...but which one?


























Follow Devalynn as she fights her way through her afterlife and tries to save those that mean the most to her.

It didn’t take long for my heart to stop beating. My eyes closed for the last time and death became me...but it wasn’t the end of my life. ~Devalynn

Excerpt:

I followed him to the edge of everything, where the stars began and the pavement ended. I stopped, frozen to the spot.

“It’s okay, you won’t fall. Nothing is going to happen to you,” he reached out for my hand as he jumped out and onto a star. I landed on one behind him and he was right. I didn’t fall.

“This is beautiful,” I huffed out as I followed behind him and jumped from star to star.

“Just wait, it gets better,” he yelled back to me.

I jumped onto a small one, my foot barely fitting on it. I wobbled and put my hands out to balance me. We did this for a while. Before I knew it, we were completely surrounded by nothingness. There were some planets around us and we sat on one of the moons as it circled around. For the first time all day, I felt relaxed and completely calm.

“So, do you like it?” he cocked his head to the side, gauging my answer as he rested back on his elbows.

“I love it. Thank you for bringing me here. I needed this. No one around, nothing to bother me; I don’t have to think about working.” I laid back on the ground of the small moon and watched the stars swirl around above us. I counted three shooting stars within just seconds of each other. “Do you like it up here?”

“It beats being down there, that’s for sure. Why?”

“I don’t know, just wondering. I want to remember earth and what it was like to be alive but I can’t.”

“Dev, you have to stop beating yourself up over it.”

“I know.” He laid down next to me and held my hand. There we were; two unbeating hearts, two souls, two people just floating around the solar system. I never wanted to leave that moment.#

About the Author:



























Arielle Caldwell participated in NaNoWriMo in November 2013. Reclaiming Souls is the finished product. It’s a New Adult Paranormal novel. Make sure to follow her on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with upcoming release dates! Also, be sure to check out her website or reach her through email.

Buy Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.com/B00IOVUVY2

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1496022106

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reclaiming-souls-arielle-caldwell/1118861165?ean=2940045729031

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/413251

Blog Tour: Forever Love by Deborah Armstrong

New Novel Blows Readers Away with a Whirlwind of Unlikely Romance
Literally and figuratively a match made in heaven tickles hearts of romance fiction fans

CALEDON, Ontario – – Author Deborah Armstrong graces bookshelves with love and affection as she intertwines romance and wit in Forever Love. In this endearing romance fiction, Armstrong touches on one of the most daring decisions of a man—or woman. She snaps readers back to the reality of love at first sight against obsession in this adventure-romantic drama.




























Davina Stuart, farmer and bestselling author of Second Harvest, shares a flight to Los Angeles with Hollywood's latest heartthrob, Quinn Thomas. Three hours of in-flight speed dating and Quinn’s in love.

Davina is not so sure. She’s older and wiser. She’ll settle for a one-night stand but he wants more. Davina’s cows and her children are her life. She’s not so sure about Hollywood and its glamour. Blue jeans, cowboy boots and her pickup truck are more her style. Quinn is tired of the plastic starlets, his empty bed and his lonely heart. He’d give up everything, including his career, for the love of a woman, his woman.

Armstrong’s book follows their whirlwind romance as the widow of two years, who thought her time for romance was over, finds love with a man who has to have her in his life, to love her forever. Armstrong invites readers to witness how Davina learns to face her fears, and how Quinn perseveres to win the heart of his one true love in Forever Love.

About the Author

Deborah Armstrong is a firm believer in genetics. She attributes her love of the English language, reading and writing to her parents. She is thrilled to have passed on her love of books (with the help of her husband, also an avid reader) to her children. Armstrong lives with her husband, three children, two cats and five hundred cows on their dairy farm in Ontario, Canada. When she’s not writing or working on the farm, she enjoys reading, traveling, watching movies and spending time with her family and friends. Armstrong enjoys strong coffee, chocolate milk and single malt scotch in no particular order.

Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deboraharmstrongauthorofromance

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/debdee99

Website: http://www.deboraharmstrong.ca/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6467157.Deborah_Armstrong

Blog Tour: Snow by Kathryn Hewitt

Overview

For every decision made there is a consequence that is certain to follow. Whether the consequence is beneficial or distressing, it must exist.

Rain continues the story of Ruth three and a half years after the miraculous event that changed her life forever. Now a mother of a toddler, Ruth is found moving herself back in to the college dormitory for the second year.

Feeling as though she isn’t worth the love of a good man, Ruth sabotages her relationship with James; the man she believes is her one true soul mate. Unable to accept his love and grace, she sends him away believing it is the right thing to do. But Ruth has much to learn about love and grace. Like she felt with James, so she feels about her faith; undeserved and unworthy.

Lost in a state of depression and feeling the effects of a raging storm, Ruth is desperate to find something of solidity to grasp ahold. After a traumatic sexual assault, she finds herself in a depression much deeper than she’d ever imagine. Feeling as though only bad things happen to bad people, she sets course a path of self destruction, determined to drown herself in the shame she believes she deserves.

It’s been said, When it rains, it pours. And for Ruth, that statement couldn’t ring more true. When storm after storm brings pelting rain and raging winds into Ruth’s life, she gives up on ever regaining the innocence she’d once had. Blinded by depression and desperation Ruth can’t see the shelters continuously being provided for her. Though she turned her back on her faith, the One who extends mercy, gives Ruth the grace she desperately needs. Now, Ruth must find her way back and cling to the faith that saved her once before.























Novel invokes thought-provoking questions on controversial topics:

Coincidence or Divine Creation?

Snow: by Kathryn Hewitt

Kathryn Hewitt, a breakout author, writes a compelling, thought-provoking novel that collides harsh realities with inspiring interventions.  Women and young adults will reflect on their own convictions of the controversial topics of abortion and the presence of a Supreme Being. Grab a box of tissues and prepare for a tear-jerking novel that will leave a smile on your face and a heart filled with hope.

Camden, SC-2012- Kathryn Hewitt’s own life-altering experiences inspired this fiction novel. Snow is a glimpse into the life of a teenage girl who struggles to balance maintaining sexual abstinence and pleasing her possessive boyfriend. Women and young adults everywhere will be devastated by circumstances, angry with characters‘ decisions, and heart broken for the unseen before being filled with awe and wonder at the miracles appearing just at the right moments.

At such a time as the present, Snow addresses the controversy over abortions in a way that represents both perspectives. Whether one is pro-life or pro-choice comfort can be found as this novel provides a new vantage point and offers an alternative. Readers must make their own decision regarding premarital abstinence and abortion, but this novel will give them a perspective of divinity and it’s presence in their everyday lives. The reader will be left to wonder, was it coincidence or divine creation?

“The author gives details in the story that most parents or teachers would not go into with a young teenage girl (especially a virgin), but I think is necessary with all that teens face in school these days. You can't generalize, sometimes the dirty details is what they need.” M. Morgan amazon.com reviewer

“Should read for all girls and women.” amazon.com

“The honest account girls need.” amazon.com

Title: Snow Author: Kathryn Hewitt Publisher: Westbow Press: A division of Thomas Nelson Publication Date: 5/2012 ISBN: 1449749445      
Retail Price: $22.95 (paperback) $37.95 (hardcover) $3.95 (eBook)
Distributions: Wholesale through Ingram and Westbow Press. Amazon.com, bn.com, booksamillion.com, etc.

About Kathryn Hewitt- Kathryn Hewitt was born and raised in the small town of Camden, South Carolina. Because of her own experiences, including becoming a teenage mother at fifteen, Kathryn knows the value of life and the blessings it contains. Understanding the importance of making wise decisions, Kathryn passionately seeks to instill that wisdom into the minds of every young lady she encounters. Kathryn married in 2005 and is a stay at home mom with her four sons. She and her family currently live in the same town she grew up.

For more information about Snow, please visit www.kathrynhewittnovels.com.  To schedule an interview or a speaking engagement please contact Kathryn Hewitt at 803-243-4245 or khnovels@yahoo.com.

Addenda includes book cover image, author photo, photography release form, author bio, novel overview and summary, and author Q&A.

Blog Tour: Cutless Anne by H.L. Wampler

H. L. Wampler, a Pittsburgher all her life, has been pushing her way toward the publishing dream for the past five years while raising her twin boys. She also blogs as The Pittsburgh Housewife and contributes to Pittsburgh Sporting News during hockey season.

A bit about Cutlass Anne:

After setting out to save her sister, Anne Crowley finds herself face-to-face with the notorious John Jacks, the son of a ruthless pirate captain. John Jacks thwarts Anne’s every move yet she finds herself attracted to the infuriating pirate. Determined to find her sister, and resist the charming John Jacks, Anne and her band of pirates must search the high seas for clues to finding her missing sister before she’s lost forever.

Wampler is available for interviews and appearances. For booking presentations, media appearances, interviews, and/or book-signings contact hlwampler@gmail.com.

http://hlwampler.com/































Excerpt:

“This is where you’ll be sleeping,” Flynn said, pushing open a small door.

I peeked inside and was taken aback. The room was no bigger than a closet. The bed was nothing more than a cot with a pathetic little mattress on one side of the room and a miniature writing desk in front of a tiny window. It was dark, drab, and nothing like my room at home. I suddenly had second thoughts about what I was doing.

“Disappointed?” Flynn asked.

“No, it’s fine,” I lied. I was a cabin boy now; I could not expect the luxuries of a governor’s daughter any longer. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make in my journey to find Jane.

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6454540.H_L_Wampler
Website:  http://hlwampler.com/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/hlwampler
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/HLWampler

Blog Tour: Stepping Stones to Emotional Resilience by Marquita Herald

Stepping Stones to Emotional Resilience A Guide to Embracing Your Inner Strength
by Marquita Herald

You don't need to be facing a major change or a crisis in your life to decide you want to become stronger and more resilient.

Trials will always be a part of life … a lost set of keys, financial stressors, overloaded schedules, a relationship or health crisis. Even the most longed for changes such as marriage and the birth of a child require adaptability and emotional resilience.

Consider this … how it is that two people can be faced with the same obstacle and while one becomes mired in a web of negativity and feelings of helplessness, the other is able to overcome the challenge and bounce back stronger than ever?

Emotional Resilience is the Key
When we make the choice to look at all experiences as stepping stones for growth and greater long-term resilience, we are able to approach life on a whole new level, and in the process realign ourselves with what is truly important in our lives.

Stepping Stones to Emotional Resilience answers the questions …
* What emotional resilience is and why it matters.
* Is one simply born resilient (or not) and can it ever be developed?
* Is the value of emotional resilience limited to crisis management or can it improve the quality of everyday life in any meaningful way?
* Is it ever too late to begin cultivating the habits of emotional resilience?
* How does one go about changing behaviors and strengthening the capacity for resilience?

“Unlike so many other books that wander in the vagaries of self-empowerment and self-motivation, I found "Resilience" to be not only practical, but applicable to literally every day of life. Stepping Stones is an uplifting and easy read, with some especially poignant quotes. Well done!”~M. Hanks


Published
1st Edition April, 2012
2nd Edition March 2014
Genre: Personal Transformation
Size: 159 pages
Format: Kindle eReader
AISN: B007VEU8FU
Price: $4.99

About the Author:

Marquita Herald is an author, blogger, trainer in personal resilience and founder of Emotionally Resilient Living and Owner of Resilient Living Publications.


Her professional background includes a successful 20 year career in international sales and marketing, followed by a decade as an award winning life and small business coach. 
 Marquita is an avid reading, loves to take spur of the moment road trips, and enjoys the occasional game of golf. She is a lover of all dogs (especially her adopted pal Lucy), and a passionate advocate of grassroots volunteer movements and community service. She is also a world-traveler and her trip of a lifetime is Machu Picchu via Orient Express.
Connect with Marquita HeraldWebsiteEmotionally Resilient Livinghttp://www.emotionallyresilientliving.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/emotionallyresilientliving
Twitter: http:/twitter.com/MarquitaHerald
Email: m.herald@emotionallyresilientliving.com

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Blog Tour :Other Systems by Elizabeth Guizzetti

Other Systems: Powerful Novel by Elizabeth Guizzetti Exposes Difficulties in Planetary Exploration and Colonization.










Blurb:
Without an influx of human DNA, the utopian colony on Kipos has eleven generations before it reaches failure. Earth is over ninety light years away. Time is short.
On the over-crowded Earth, many see opportunity in Kipos' need. After medical, intelligence, and physiological testing, Abby and her younger siblings, Jin and Orchid, are offered transportation. Along with 750,000 other strong young immigrants, they leave the safety of their family with the expectation of good jobs and the opportunity for higher education.
While the Earthlings travel to the new planet in stasis, the Kiposi, terrified the savages will taint their paradise, pass a series of indenture and adoption laws in order to assimilate them.
When Abby wakes up on Kipos, Jin cannot be found. Orchid is ripped from her arms as Abby is sold to a dull-eyed man with a sterilized wife. Indentured to breed, she is drugged and systematically coerced. To survive, Abby learns the differences in culture and language using the only thing that is truly hers on this new world: her analytical mind. In order to escape her captors, she joins a planetary survey team where she will discover yet another way of life.



























Reviews:
Hectate of the Three Nerds & a Book Club said, “There were such complex issues ranging from technological advances, race and social disputes, and figuring out what can really make a family. It took a while to wrap my mind around the time differences, but I came to accept it as a norm.”
The Red Reader Reviews said: I can guarantee when you're reading Other Systems, not only will you be enthralled by the world Guizzetti creates but you'll be right there alongside Abby and her friends.
Denise DeSio the author of Rose’s Will was equally as impressed. She said, “Time and again I kept thinking, "Whoa! How many months, maybe years, of research did she have to do to come up with this stuff?"
Other Systems ISBN: 978-1-937546-01-4 was published by 48Fourteen, is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Koboand 48Fourteen.
For more information, visit the book’s official website: http://other-systems.com
About the Author:  Elizabeth Guizzetti
























Seattle, WA – Elizabeth Guizzetti opened a new door to the science fiction genre with a character driven multi-world fiction that grabs readers’ emotions and refuses to let go. Garnering a growing and dedicated readership, Other Systems examines what an actual life of might entail if someone chooses to leave Earth and live on another planet. Hailed as both ‘thought-provoking’ and ‘emotional’, the book is resonating with readers—some who have never read science fiction before.
Inspired by NASA's Kepler mission (the search for other Earth-like planets) the novel explores the shifts in culture and belief systems, the definition of humanity, and family structure as humans for new homes. Finally it asks: Would you go? 

As the author explains, her novel showcases the true power of a determined human mind. “Abby is an intelligent protagonist that grows through the course of the novel. Even though life does not turn out as planned, she uses her mind--not violence--in order to find a way out of her problems,” says Guizzetti.

elizabethguizzetti@gmail.com




















Sales Links:
Amazon:Print: http://www.amazon.com/Other-Systems-Elizabeth-Guizzetti/dp/1937546144
 e-book: http://www.amazon.com/Other-Systems-ebook/dp/B007QQDU94
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/other-systems-elizabeth-guizzetti/1104526463?ean=2940014188180&isbn=2940014188180&itm=1&usri=other+systems
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Other-Systems/book-lAMz6j8ucEKWQZGgUMpZeQ/page1.html?s=b-OqFgbxpk-4FTmjKzwYAw&r=5
FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/OtherSystems
Website with deleted scenes and other extras! http://other-systems.com
Trailers:
Other Systems: Voices from the Stars Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAHQJBjRvgE
Other Systems: The Stargazer Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiIJBPJ1DV8

Blog Tour: Angels of the Knights by Valerie Zambito

BLURB
When Fallon died at the age of sixteen, her life changed forever. 

The hallowed world of Emperica is everything she had ever hoped for as a mortal—immeasurable beauty, unconditional love and light.  But, with affection for humankind still burning within her, she joins the Knight Caste to train as an angel warrior. 
The elders warn her that the path she chose will be a solitary one.  That she will not have the same bond with humans as she once did.  But, as far as she knows, the elders had never met Kade Royce. 

When her duties place her in the path of the handsome former cop, emotions buried long ago rise to the surface and she is powerless to ignore the depth of her feelings for this young man.  Ignoring the risks, she invites him into her world of danger, but soon their lives collide with explosive consequence.  As a result, Fallon realizes with heartbreaking despair that she can no longer hide from the painful truth.  In order for Kade to live, she must destroy him. 




Book LinksFacebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Valerie-Zambito-Author-Page/207290402664749Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Angels-Knights-Fallon-Paranormal-ebook/dp/B008KP6GJG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379775955&sr=1-1&keywords=angels+of+the+knights
Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/angels-of-the-knights-valerie-zambito/1111916662?ean=9780615650135&itm=5&usri=valerie+zambito




About the Author Fantasy author, Valerie Zambito, lives in New York with her family.  After having been involved in a busy sales career for fifteen years, a passionate love for great storytelling, world building, character creation, and all things magic led to the release of her epic fantasy series, Island Shifters, in 2011, and YA paranormal series, Angels of the Knights, in 2012.  Other works include:
Island Shifters - An Oath of the Blood (Book 1)Island Shifters - An Oath of the Mage (Book 2)Island Shifters - An Oath of the Children (Book 3)Island Shifters – An Oath of the Kings (Book 4)Angels of the Knights - Fallon (Book 1)Angels of the Knights - Blane (Book 2)Angels of the Knights – Nikki (Book 3)
Website:  www.valeriezambito.comEmail:  vzambito@rochester.rr.com

Blog Tour: Meditation on Space-Time by Leonard Seet

Title: Meditation on Space-TimeAuthor: Leonard SeetGenre: PhilosophySynopsis: Even as Father Lawrence was hearing the stranger’s confession, he dreamed of probability waves, black holes and temporal loops. He came to Gilead to search for his friend Camellia, not to hear about this penitent’s vices: seducing women, framing rivals and laundering church-funds. After he had chased the penitent through the sanctuary into the church graveyard and lost the man, he found a note that revealed a connection to Camellia.      When he learned that Camellia was pregnant with this man’s child, he knew the time to play ostrich was over. But ever since the girl whom he had counseled, committed suicide, he preferred distancing himself from others than engaging their struggles. And ever since falling out with his best friend, he preferred contemplating the duality of space-time to sorting out his own joy and grief and love and hatred. If only he could free himself from his emotional scum… if only he could marshal the courage to polish off his search for enlightenment…       He would discover the hidden identities behind each face and Camellia’s helping the villain to bring him down. When faced with betrayal, he would lock himself in his cabin and struggled between retreating to his meditation on space-time and confronting the villain. He would renounce his vow and learn to equate a dollar with a cheeseburger. He would buy a gun without knowing how to load the magazine. He would search for his enemy. But when faced with the gun barrel, Father Lawrence would have to contemplate death… only to hear the three shots that saluted the dark night…      Either mercy or justice; either salvation or friendship. Either choice: a flawed solution for a fallen man in a broken world.  Meditation on Space-Time portrays a man’s struggle to discover his identity in contemporary society, to sacrifice for his friends and to take the road less traveled. For readers who would eat up the hero’s every morsel of laughter and tear as if each were bittersweet chocolate. While sifting through clues to the characters’ true identities and hidden agendas.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CHAPTER 1
WHEN THE STRANGER STEPPED INTO THE CONFESSIONAL to narrate his crimes, which my vow had forbidden me from disclosing, I was meditating on space-time to recuperate from the ten-hour drive to Gilead, Tennessee.
Dark night the boundary between reality and dream somewhere at a memory’s frontier fading near a singularity’s ledge surfing upon a probability wave across the space-time fabric through a neutrino sea skirting the edges of black holes searching for dark matter searching for the Higgs Boson. Photon gluon graviton clusters crisscrossing tangling and weaving a unified fabric symmetric space-time hydrogen atoms merging and emerging a helium atom along with neutrinos and photons annihilation and creation interaction and transformation the brightest night the loudest silence the fullest void the darkest knowledge…
“Father, I sinned.”
The confessor’s rasp stirred me from my meditation, my dream, and I yawned and inhaled the stale air in the confessional. A strip of light slid through the door crack and cut across my left hand as I turned my head and my hair dusted the screen separating me from the stranger. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and shifted to a more comfortable position on the hardwood seat. I stretched my left leg and kicked the confessional’s wall. The newspaper flew from my knee and rattled toward the floor as the article about genocide in Rwanda flickered between light and shade.
“Father, I sinned.”
The sound of sandpaper against steel sounded again beyond the screen. I twisted my body and my elbow knocked against the wall. I squinted but only saw a shadow distorted under the slanting light beyond the partition. Probably an insomniac who couldn’t afford to go to the bar.
Two days ago, I was chopping wood in the forest beside the monastery, and had looked forward to enjoying The Four Seasons in Boston’s Symphony Hall with my friends Camellia and Ichiro. I didn’t plan on visiting St. Barnabas Church in Gilead but this stranger, from some hallucination, had foreseen my arrival and booked me for therapy.
The penitent knocked twice on the other side of the partition. “Hey, dude, wake up from your wet dream, you’re supposed to say ‘when was your last confession’ or some crap like that. You hear me?” His breath was contaminating the air.
Perhaps I should grunt a mantra. But I was only a monk contemplating the meaning of death, the mystery of alternative universes and other such nonsense. What could I know about confessions? When a man in a Mission Hill soup kitchen confessed to using heroin and stealing his mother’s funeral dollars to keep the habit, I listened like a Buddha, not because my wisdom had transcended words and even sounds but because all replies, no matter how concise, how insightful, how articulate, appeared as frivolous as a gilded coffin. In the end, my friend Ichiro bailed me out by impersonating a priest.
Now, this insomniac beyond the partition, from some itch or pang, insisted on harassing a confession-phobic monk, who had evaded the parish, a.k.a. purgatory, by pretending to suffer from attention-deficit disorder. Had I wanted to hear about adultery, thievery, murder, or insider trading, I would’ve become a bartender or, unable to concoct spirituous potions, a pseudo-Freudian psychotherapist. Even now, twenty-three years later, after having one too many drinks, I would still dream of my former high school classmate Daphne, as she sobbed out her pain in a March evening. Her blue eyes, her blond hair, her smiles fleeing into the mist. In those dreams, unlike this reality, I actually pulled her out of the abyss.
“You should talk to Father Jones.” I offered my wisdom. “He’d be glad to hear your confession. Why don’t I ask him to come over? I’m sure he’s not yet asleep. And even if he is, he’d delay his dreams and hear your confession in his pajamas.” Father Jones, the tongue-flapping priest who had begun substituting for this church’s parish priest five days ago, would savor this soul’s secrets as a thief would Queen Victoria’s crown. After delivering this stranger’s message but before allowing me to read it, the priest had already complained about not having heard any confessions in a week. He probably envied me for hearing one the first night here. Amid babbles about apple pie recipes, all-meat diets, school shootings and movie-star divorces, his eyes betrayed the lust for confessions—pyramid schemes, clandestine liaisons, corporate double-dealings or plain old government conspiracies. I wouldn’t be surprised if at this moment his ear was kissing the other side of the confessional’s door and itching for some tale, some yarn, some anecdote of unadulterated sin. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a reformed con man who had sold aphrodisiacs or perpetual motion machines. Or a repentant banker who had bundled junk bonds, sub-prime mortgages and high-risk insurance policies into kosher derivatives. But he better not be taping with a recorder.
“You know, buddy, never confessed before so you can imagine I got lots to say, but of course ain’t got much time. So here we go if you don’t mind. Well, of course, even if you do, what can you do about it? To start with something simple, I’ve embezzled money. Oh, not from a bank or a high-tech company, no sir. That’d be dull and cliched as heck, not worth your time. Nope, I stole from a church and a nice one at that too. Well, ain’t nothing new, but the amount is something, you know?”
“You should return the money.”
“Hey, what’s this bullshit? You’re supposed to say ‘I absolve you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’ or some crap like that. If I wanted to return the money, what the hell am I doing here confessing? Right? What kind of a priest are you anyway? Don’t you know your only job’s to listen and to absolve sins? What else are you good for? Anyway, why’d I return the money? Ha, ha, we’re not talking about chicken feed, if you know what I mean. You have any stinking idea how much I took? Take a stupid guess. Oh forget it, with your petty allowances, you’d never seen that much money in your life. What’d priests know about money anyway? Hell, man, I bought a mansion with a marble hall, a wine cellar, an outdoor pool and complete automation, you know, with the latest hi-tech gizmos. I also bought a Lamborghini Gallardo even though I ain’t into racing. But hey, makes me look macho. Well, you know, helps to pick up chicks, I mean nice ones. Hell, I enjoyed every penny of it, as I’m sure you’d if you got the money. Not that you’ll ever see so much money, you poor pitiful man. But you probably understand indulgence, right?”
“If you’re trying to make me jealous, you’ve failed. Come, face me and we’ll talk, man to man. I want to know why you chose me for your hide-and-seek.” I peeked through the screen but the shadow doubled over with laughter and began choking before calming down.
“Father, I sinned. I got two mistresses and enjoy every minute with them. I made love to a minor—”
I opened the confessional’s half-hinged door and slipped out of the seat. I stepped on an insect and tiptoed into the hallway, where the statuettes of Peter, Paul and John guarded the Creation fresco in which a chip on the wall removed the serpent’s head. I wanted to open the confessional’s other door, mark out the fangs and two-prong tongue and squeeze the serpent-neck.
A door slammed, then footsteps echoed throughout the sanctuary. I scared away a rat and dashed down the hallway, past frescos of the Passover, the Passion, the Resurrection, and the Pentecost. I stepped into the sanctuary, where on the left wall a crucified-Jesus statuette stared down at the altar. I bypassed the altar and skipped down the marble steps. I sprinted down the aisle between cherry-wooded pews, while beyond the benches, under candlelight, the mosaic windows flaunted Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension scenes. Claw-like shadows darkened the multicolored windowpanes to overlay a second scene and cast phantoms onto the aisle and pews.
A draft wafted through the aisle. A screech, a thump and several clangs echoed through the sanctuary.
“Damn it,” Father Jones said. “Someone poked your eyes out, you clumsy fool? Get a new pair of eyes, man. Don’t you know it’s against the law to walk without eyes? Ouch, oh my poor and innocent back.”
When I reached the entrance, Father Jones was moaning on the floor beside a golden chalice while, near the door, holy water dripped from the baptized donation box. The priest rubbed his back and took out a flask of whiskey. He gulped down a mouthful and winked as if a mosquito had stung his eyelid. “Didn’t like your advice, did he? Well, don’t worry, the important thing is you heard his story. Oh, by the way, just between you and me, one priest to another, was it interesting? Visiting a prostitute? Cheating the IRS? Stealing intellectual property? Oh, come on, you can tell me.”
I helped Father Jones get up and sidestepped his whiskey breath. I ran through the candlelit foyer past the Madonna’s icons and exited the main entrance. The humid night air slammed into my face while a fly landed on the back of my hand. I flung it away, stepped out of the archway, and skipped down the steps into the graveyard. No footsteps, no shadows, only a raven cawing on a headstone.
I took out the flashlight and highlighted several headstones. The raven shrieked and flew into the fog. I stepped onto the earth searching for life among the dead, but only found the stench of rotten eggs mingling with the epitaphs.
The most generous person… Worked the hardest in the office… An inspiration for others… A pious man… Beloved son… Born April 1, 1979… September 2, 2007…
I felt I had awakened into the wrong city, the wrong year, the wrong dream. If I hadn’t heard the confession, I would’ve been more peaceful, ignorant of theft, fraud and statutory rape. Blessed be the ignorant.
Past the headstones, a fence stood at the ledge. Beyond the fence, below the hill, Gilead’s houses slumbered in the evening, while the town hall’s Tower of Babel pierced heavenward through the fog.
I came to Gilead only wishing to find Camellia, to know that she was safe, that she was well. I wanted her to break free from her nameless lover’s pull but would rather she orbit around the married man than enter the black hole of her father Donald Larsen, that fugitive on the run from one Ponzi scheme to another. Under her father, Camellia had tasted enough pain and shouldn’t have to help him escape to Mexico or some Caribbean island, where on his beachfront mansion’s porch he would enjoy coladas and massages while his victims must dine in soup kitchens.
In the distance, above Memphis, neon lights against the fog hinted at the bankruptcies, the foreclosures, the layoffs, and the Pyramid schemes powering the land. But in front of me, a piece of paper taped to a cracked headstone was fluttering in the wind as if thumbing its nose at the heavenly shimmer. I stepped over a decomposing squirrel and scattered the flies. I grabbed the note, on which a smiley face was drawn above Camellia’s name.
While I glanced beyond the graveyard and pondered on the connection between the penitent and Camilla, Father Jones called from the entrance, “Don’t forget about this memory thingy. Seems like it might reveal something about Pastor Whitfield’s disappearance.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~About the Author:Leonard Seet is the author of the novel Meditation On Space-Time and the non-fiction The Spiritual Life. Through his writings, he probes the dynamics of existence, including human consciousness, good and evil, and rationality and spirituality. His articles appear on Blogging Authors.While working overseas as Project Director for a consumer electronics company, Leonard came upon a parchment, which he had drafted in college after booing a novel’s ending. The chicken-scratches had begun to fade, but he succeeded in deciphering the text. The writing was amateurish, but the plot had potential. So, to relieve work stress, he began rewriting the story, along the way learning the art of the trade. Several years later, he resigned from the company to write short stories and literary novels.His favorite novels include The Brothers Karamozov, War and Peace, 1984, The Stranger, and The Road. And his favorite non-fictions include New Seeds of Contemplation, Moral Man and Immoral Society, The Creative Mind, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and The Competitive Advantages of Nations.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Social Links: Goodreads  |  Blog  | Facebook | Linkedin |  Yahoo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Buy the Book:
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Blog Tour: Hunters by Stefanie Pristavu

Rachel’s life isn’t perfect. Sure, she has super powers, an awesome job and a hunky boyfriend. But her boyfriend has a problem with her vampire-hunting duties, she keeps hitting dead ends in her quest to find the vampire boss, Vlad, and Daniel, her partner and best friend, is getting married. And she has no idea why that bothers her.

In his creepy castle, Vlad is no happier with his situation. He’d paid good money to keep the Hunters off his back, and a pair of them have been raining havoc so close to his home. Sweet revenge is in order.

Vlad sweeps down and solves all of Rachel’s relationship problems in one fell swoop. But not in the way she would have wanted. To make matters worse, the Hunters’ High Council calls her and Daniel for trial and sentences them to death for throwing the vampire hunting rule book out the window.

On the run from the Hunters as well as all vampires, Rachel starts seeing Daniel as much more than a best friend. But the new found comfort shatters when evil voices inside her head sing of destruction and doom, and a creepy Banshee turns their crutch-legend into a prophecy of war. A war she and Daniel must start to save their race from extinction. And Rachel seriously doubts that a head-on battle between the vampires and the Hunters will be their ticket out of the death sentence.























Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15740750-hunters 

Amazon Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008RTTOQ2/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B008RTTOQ2&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2 

Publisher buy link: http://www.fireandiceya.com/authors/stefaniejpristavu/hunters.html

Stefanie J Pristavu

About the Author: (from GR ‘About the Author’)

Born and raised in Romania, the only girl amongst two brothers, Stefanie has spent her childhood playing pretend and inventing characters. Once she actually learned how to spell in English, she started writing the adventures of her alter egos. Hundreds of thousands of words and thirteen years later, after two years of learning the craft of writing, Steph still tests the waters of her imagination, coming up with stories and characters.

Goodreads Profile Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6437413.Stefanie_J_Pristavu 
Website: http://stephacrosstheborder.blogspot.ro/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StefanieJPristavu

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