Segilola Salami's Blog, page 18
August 21, 2019
How to Find the REAL Target Market for Your Children’s Book
Today’s blog post is a guest post by Martin Cavannagh. Martin is a writer with Reedsy, the world’s largest marketplace for publishing freelancers. He is also the curator and editor of Reedsy Learning. As a children’s author myself, Martin shares with us How to Find the REAL Target Market for Your Children’s Book. Fingers crossed any aspiring children’s authors reading this guest post would find the tips here useful.
Introduction:
The basic strategy for marketing any book is pretty straightforward: find out who likes your book, discover where they “live” (not just geographically, but virtually), then sell your book there and make it irresistible! It follows that when you’re publishing a children’s book, these principles are the same… with one critical exception.
In the children’s book market, the target audience isn’t made up of actual children, but the “bigs” who purchase the books for them. This might be parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, teachers — whomever. If you understand what they’re looking for in a kid’s book, you’ll realize that you couldn’t ask for a better target consumer:
● They have a simple core desire — to get a book the child will love
● Children go through a LOT of titles, so they always need new books
● Once they find an author they like and trust, they will read everything they’ve written
● It’s easy to find out where parents, teachers, etc. “live” online
With these points in mind, we’re going to look at how children’s authors have effectively targeted these “bigs,” and how you can implement their tactics into your own marketing plan.
1. Hit up social media
These days, parents of young kids are almost always millennials. As a result, they depend mainly on Internet mediums for parenting recommendations. Blogs, Instagram, Facebook groups, Twitter, Reddit: you name it, it’ll have swarms of parents trading tips, tricks, and trends regarding what they do with their kids — which, naturally, includes reading books.
One easy way to take advantage of social media is to search each platform for your target market. For example, you might look through Facebook for children’s books or parenting groups, or groups that have a vested interest in the topic of your book. So if you’ve written a picture book about fire trucks, you can bet there’s a Facebook group of people with kids who love fire trucks — who’re probably burning through fire truck picture books at an alarming rate (no pun intended), and need more to fill up their shelves!
You can also let the people come to you. Try sharing pictures of your book using relevant hashtags that either deal with your book’s subject (#unicorns #firetrucks) or tap directly into your audience (#mommylifestyle #picturebooksaremyjam). Soon enough you’ll get followers and commenters who are fiending to get their hands on your book, and may even be interested in some social cross-promotion! Can you say “two birds, one stone”?
Finally, make sure you’ve registered your book on Goodreads. Even if you haven’t really started your marketing campaign yet, do it right now! Goodreads is by far the largest social network dedicated to sharing books, and merely being a part of it will give you a huge boost.
2. Get your book into libraries
Libraries are a fantastic opportunity for children’s book authors. Why? Because parents aren’t going to buy every single book their child wants, especially when they go through them so quickly! Consequently, many parents rely on borrowing titles from their local library, where they can find all the classics AND discover tons of new authors for free.
If you manage to get your book into the children’s section of your regional branch, then you’re practically guaranteed to get some borrows. And if those parents and their kids enjoy your book, they’ll want to read everything else you’ve written — and might even be willing to shell out the cash for your next title.
Needless to say, getting just one of your books into the library is a stellar investment. The borrows themselves won’t make you any money, but the recognition and popularity you’ll gain among parents and kids in your community will be worth your book’s weight in gold. (Unless it’s a picture book, in which case I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s worth even more.)
That said, to enter your book into a library system, you need to a) convince librarians of its value and b) make it easy for them to order multiple copies. To do that, you should:
● Ensure that your book has a consistent stream of good reviews;
● Make it available through major wholesalers; and
● Introduce yourself personally!
That last point might seem daunting, but it’s easier than you think. For example, plenty of libraries love hosting story hours with authors — offering to do a free story hour is a great icebreaker and the perfect way to curry favor if you want a library to stock your book(s). And meeting your readers face-to-face isn’t just limited to library visits…
3. Plan in-school visits
“Many children’s authors don’t realize that most schools set aside an annual budget for paid author visits,” says children’s author Yvonne Jones. So if you’ve written a children’s book, be sure to take advantage of this; it might even lead to you making a decent chunk of money!
The trick here is to be extremely organized. Make sure you have a plan in place before you contact any schools. Let them know the suitable age/grade range for your book, and email any relevant links, including a cover image, synopsis, and anything else they might want to know about your book. If you’ve written other kids’ books or done similar events, make sure to mention it — a little street cred goes a long way! Then, as soon as the school agrees to host you, send over a summary of your planned visit.
At this point, you should also try secure sales with the parents, if you can. (Remember who your target audience really is!) To do this, ask the school to send home permission slips in advance of your visit, requesting cash or a check to pay for a signed copy of your book. You may want to ask for this payment to be mediated through a teacher or other supervisor, to reassure parents (and to ensure you get paid — you never know if a kid will trade the cash for something shiny during recess). Then you simply bring a few books along with you to pass out, like a performer with a T-shirt cannon… only slightly more school-appropriate.
CONCLUSION on How to Find the REAL Target Market for Your Children’s Book:
These three simple-yet-essential tips will massively enhance your marketing campaign as you embark on your children’s book-promoting journey. And of course, there are plenty of other tricks you can try to reach the children’s gatekeepers! For instance, you might create a book trailer, or you can guest post for parenting blogs. But so long as you direct your efforts toward the actual buyers of children’s books, rather than the children themselves, you’ll be on track to nail down your market and turn a profit sooner than you think.
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What do you think about today’s guest post How to Find the REAL Target Market for Your Children’s Book? Please leave a comment below
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post How to Find the REAL Target Market for Your Children’s Book appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
August 19, 2019
Stephanie Tumba: Love, Dating, and Relationships | Podcast Interview
Stephanie Tumba is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. Stephanie shares with us her first impressions of dating in London (UK) after her divorce and compares it to how vastly different it is to dating in France where she emigrated from. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most hilarious conversation with Stephanie Tumba.
The opening tune on this podcast was sponsored by singer song writer Angela Predhomme and it is from her single HIDDEN WINGS. You can listen to the full track on her website, on Apple Music or on Spotify.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it
About Stephanie Tumba
I was born and raised in Paris, France by Congolese parents.
When I was seven, I was stealing my mother’s Dutch Wax Block fabrics making clothes for dolls and selling them to my friends. I was also teaching dancing moves at 9 during our school breaks. Early on in my life, I demonstrated an entrepreneurial mindset emphasised by my managerial behaviour being the big sister of 5 other brothers and sisters.
Always being full of energy, my parents always kept me busy, and I was trained in Classical dance, gymnastics, ballet, modern & street jazz dances and triathlon where I won a few regional medals on the way. But, since I have been a kid, I always had an overflowing Imagination with a slight tendency to hyperactivity. So, I have always read and written songs, poems, or stories sometimes short, sometimes long, sometimes comical, occasionally sarcastic and sometimes dark & suicidal, depending on my mood, the music I have in mind, or the people I meet. Today, business lady by day and writer by night, I am thrilled to announce the second edition of my first novel called 100 Dates and a Wedding and the release of the French version June 22.
You can read a character interview from Stephanie’s latest book 100 Dates and a Wedding by clicking here.
About The Segilola Salami Show
The Segilola Salami show is hosted by Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of books written by Segilola Salami.
The show is set in a virtual cafe and is about books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to subscribe to be notified when a new episode is released.
If you would like to appear as a guest on the next episode of the podcast, please click here to book your slot.
Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!
If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.
Please download a FREE copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon
***
I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Stephanie Tumba: Love, Dating, and Relationships”. Please leave a comment below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Stephanie Tumba: Love, Dating, and Relationships | Podcast Interview appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb... RSS feed&utm_medium=Online&utm_campaign=grief course
August 17, 2019
Character Interview from Children’s Book Cow In The City by Jeanette Raine Harrison
Today’s character interview is from the Children’s Book Cow In The City by Jeanette Raine Harrison. It is a 33 paged book that was self-published by the author on the 19th of December 2018. It is currently available as a paperback (ISBN-13: 978-1792007507) and an Amazon eBook (ASIN: B07L82MGGB).
Synopsis of Cow In The City by Jeanette Raine Harrison
This children’s book is about a cow named Henrietta who goes to I-Moo-Wa City and tries to go to school.
Name of character to be interviewed: Henrietta
Why was this character chosen to be interviewed?: Henrietta is the main character, and she is very entertaining.
Question 1: What do you do?
Answer: I’m a cow by trade. I was born a cow. I pretty much eat hay and apples all day. I take naps. Then, I play. In my free time, I moo and make milk.
Question 2: What is your family like?
Answer: My family is mostly my mom and my sisters. They don’t let boy cows come around that much. It’s funny, because most of my family looks alike. Sometimes, we get each other mixed up. We think we are looking in a mirror, but we aren’t. I know they say all cows look the same, but we don’t.
Question 3: Why made you want to take a trip to I-Moo-Wa City?
Answer: I really thought that I-Moo-Wa sounded like a good place for a cow. I also have an adventurous soul and wanted to see what life was like outside of the farm.
Question 4: What was your favorite part about I-Moo-Wa City?
Answer: I loved everything about it. I loved the cow-lege, I loved the grass, I loved the trees, I loved the people. I thought it was Moo-riffic!
Question 5: Do you miss living on the farm?
Answer: I do miss living on the farm some days. Still, I know that my mom and sisters and all the other cows out there are cheering me on. They read my book, and they are so happy and proud of me. They kept telling me, “Henrietta, you are Fa-Moos!”
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If you enjoyed reading this character interview and learning about Henrietta the cow, please buy a copy of this children’s book Cow In The City by Jeanette Raine Harrison online via my Amazon affiliate links.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Character Interview from Children’s Book Cow In The City by Jeanette Raine Harrison appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
August 15, 2019
Lisa Cybaniak and Ruth Berkowitz: Are you struggling with an emotional loss?
Lisa Cybaniak and Ruth Berkowitz are today’s guests on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. We discuss my upcoming course on grief resolution that aims to help people who are struggling with an emotional loss move forward with their lives and career. Ruth and Lisa also sharing their own experiences of emotional loss and why they feel my upcoming course is important. Click here to find out more about and enrol in my upcoming on grief resolution to help those struggling with an emotional loss.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it
About The Segilola Salami Show
The Segilola Salami show is an audio podcast talk show hosted by the female Nigerian-British podcaster Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of Yoruba children’s books written by Segilola Salami.
The show is set in a virtual cafe and is a podcast on books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new. Also, as the show is set in a virtual cafe, it is a fun podcast to listen to at work, while running or even when driving.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to review the different ways to listen to or subscribe to this podcast to be notified when a new episode is released.
The Segilola Salami Show is a great podcast show for writers and authors. If you would like to appear as a guest on this podcast, please click here for more info and to book your slot.
Please leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!
If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.
Please download a FREE copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon
***
I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Lisa Cybaniak and Ruth Berkowitz: Are you struggling with an emotional loss?”. Please leave a comment below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Lisa Cybaniak and Ruth Berkowitz: Are you struggling with an emotional loss? appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
August 14, 2019
Self-Worth – Why It’s Important And How To Increase It by Good Nelly
Today’s blog post is a guest post by a lady called Good Nelly. She has helped a number of people overcome their debt problems and has solved personal finance related queries. Good says that in today’s world, most people are trying hard to increase their net worth. There is no harm in doing that, but in doing so, you shouldn’t forget your self-worth.
In this guest post, before we discuss the importance of self-worth and how to achieve it, Good wants us to first understand what self-worth actually is. Happy reading!
What is self-worth?
As per Merriam-Webster, “self-worth is a feeling that you are a good person who deserves to be treated with respect.” If you have self-worth, you’ll value yourself and feel that you’re worthy. If you don’t value yourself, you won’t be valued by others. While you may feel worthy when someone gives you value, a friend of yours may feel worthy when he/she can mix with important people. However, in reality, you shouldn’t judge your self-worth on the basis of how others treat, appreciate or value you. You should realize your own worth.
Why do we give more importance to net worth than self-worth?
By net worth, we mean the assets we have minus the debts. When we work hard for increasing our net worth, we actually tie our self-worth with our net worth. So, we start making judgments about ourselves and our own lives, based on the assets or material possessions we have.
Why self-worth is important
You may wonder why knowing your self-worth is more important than money for true success! It is because your life is precious. You should value it.
Your life is much more important than your material possessions. Think once, money can help you acquire wealth, but can it help you buy happiness? No! But, if you can work on increasing your self-worth, you’ll be happy and content with your life.
Often people get confused between self-esteem and self-worth. There is a slight difference between self-worth and self-esteem. As already mentioned, self-worth is valuing yourself from the inside. It is the belief that you are valuable irrespective of how others value you. Self-esteem is how we evaluate ourselves. But, the comparison is not always on the basis of net worth.
How to increase your self-worth
So, how will you increase your self-worth? Is it that tough? No, it’s not. Here are a few ways to increase your self-worth.
Stop comparing yourself with others
If you compare yourself with others, you’ll never be satisfied. There will always be a person better than you in whatever aspect you compare, be it his/her net worth, appearance, etc. Instead, find out the positive qualities which you can cherish.
Stop feeling old and achieve what you want to
Age is a number. It shouldn’t affect how you value yourself. You don’t have to be within your 30s or 40s to achieve what you want to. Always try to achieve new things in life.
Give your time to others who’ll appreciate it
Yes, the most valuable possession you have is time. Try to give your time to others who cherish it. Visit your family, spend your time with friends, or help underprivileged people. Doing so, you’ll find how much your self-worth has increased.
Give importance to quality rather than quantity
The quality of your friendship is much more important than the number of friends you have. You should feel happy even if you have one friend whom you can rely upon. Also, you should feel good that in need, your friend(s) will value your advice.
Accept new challenges
While accepting new challenges, never think about what will happen if you can’t meet your expectations. Have faith in yourself and give your best. You may not win every time but you’ll feel that your self-worth has increased a lot. You’ll value yourself more.
Find out what is important to you
Just think which activities give you pleasure. It might be helping others in need or organizing a summer camp for kids, and so on. Do such activities that make you feel better. It will automatically increase your self-worth.
Be confident but accept your weaknesses
If you become confident, you will follow yourself instead of following others. Everyone has some weaknesses. You should know about them so that you can ask for help in need.
What you shouldn’t consider to increase your net worth?
Here are a few things which you shouldn’t consider to increase your self-worth.
Your net worth – The value of your assets doesn’t increase your self-worth.
How you look – It is not the ultimate thing; however, you should try to make yourself presentable.
Your job – It is important to pursue a good career but you never know you might be laid off due to an economic downturn.
People you know – Even if you know influential people, that doesn’t increase your self-worth.
At last, I would like to mention that it is important to spend some time with yourself to increase your self-worth and know the person you are. So, spend some ‘me-time’ and enjoy life. Life is beautiful! Live every moment!
About Good Nelly
Good Nelly is a financial writer who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has started her financial journey long back. Good Nelly has been associated with Debtconsolidationcare.com for a long time. Through her writings, she has helped people overcome their debt problems and has solved personal finance related queries. She has also written for some other websites and blogs. You can find out more about her on her website by clicking here.
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I hope you found today’s guest post on Self-Worth – Why It’s Important And How To Increase It by Good Nelly useful? Please leave a comment below so that I know what you think of the post. I would also appreciate it if you shared this page across all your channels and networks.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Self-Worth – Why It’s Important And How To Increase It by Good Nelly appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
August 12, 2019
Marc O’Brien: How to use children books to build trust with a child | Podcast Interview
Marc O’Brien is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. Marc shares how he hopes his latest children’s book Peter the Peteeatrick Panda would help parents and nurses build trust with a child when they are about to get vaccinated. As vaccinations are a hot topic in the mainstream media, it is important to Marc that children feel relaxed during this time when things may hurt. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most intriguing conversation with Marc O’Brien.
The opening tune on this podcast was sponsored by singer song writer Angela Predhomme and it is from her single HIDDEN WINGS. You can listen to the full track on her website, on Apple Music or on Spotify.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it
About Marc O’Brien
It has been over ten years since Las Vegas resident Marc O’Brien was sitting writing his retired nursing executives Mother’s newsletter that went out to her professional peers and he came up with the idea of Peter the Peteeatrick Panda.
After testing the idea out the pair decided to put the character into a self-published children’s book and down the street from Cape Canaveral at Blue Note Publishing the peteeatrick panda found life in literature.
“It has been a wonderful addition to my professional portfolio of work,” said the author of “Peter The Peteeatrick Panda’s Playground” who has gone on other self and create space publishing efforts along with a work “The Final Fence: Sophomores In The Saddle” being distributed internationally by Austin Macauley, UK, “self-publishing was the perfect format for the idea, the product was professional as was
the illustrations done by Catherine Wicks.”
In the text Peter finds himself in over his head and after falling needs to go to the hospital in a panda mobile. Then later he is adopted by the nurses and they give him a volunteer job as a pandy striper.
“Reading to a child builds a trust worthy atmosphere,” Author Marc O’Brien said, “It was my goal to create an atmosphere that allowed nurses to calm a child so they could do their job.”
After the creation of this character the Barry University Communication graduate has done library and school readings in Florida as well as New Jersey. Added to that Peter has visited Patrick Air Force Base Christmas parties for children whose parents were being deployed.
“Starting dialogue of health care in these situations prepare a child just in case they have to go to the hospital,” said the author.
With the vaccination issue out in the mainstream media Peter the Peteeatrick Panda feels like he is prepared and wants to be visible to make sure that children feel relaxed during this time when things may hurt, and trust is needed.
“When there are needles, Peter needs to be there in spirit,” said Author Marc O’Brien, “he is there to break tension and give the child a secure feeling.”
Other works published by Marc O’Brien include “Peter the Peteeatrick Panda and the Pandy Chip Pancakes, A Special Person to Ride, The Legend of The Pixie Piper and Midnight Christmas Miracle.”
About The Segilola Salami Show
The Segilola Salami show is hosted by Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of books written by Segilola Salami.
The show is set in a virtual cafe and is about books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to subscribe to be notified when a new episode is released.
If you would like to appear as a guest on the next episode of the podcast, please click here to book your slot.
Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) by clicking here!
If you are an author, blogger or book lover, please subscribe to my authors and bloggers mailing list to find out about new self-published books that need reviews. I send out monthly newsletters with details of authors and their books that need honest feedback.
The podcast jingle used in this episode was provided by Chris Lament.
Please download a copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon
***
I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Marc O’Brien: How to use children books to build trust with a child”. Please leave a comment below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Marc O’Brien: How to use children books to build trust with a child | Podcast Interview appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb... RSS feed&utm_medium=Online&utm_campaign=grief course
August 10, 2019
Character Interview: Spaghetti Head by Sarah Tyley
Today’s blog post is a character interview from the mixed genre (speculative self-help romantic comedy) book Spaghetti Head by Sarah Tyley. It was independently published by the author and is available as a Paperback (ISBN 9781986751865, published 6.07.18) and an Amazon ebook (ASIN B07BJK4SB6, published 7.03.18).
Synopsis of Spaghetti Head by Sarah Tyley
Do you ever feel like you can’t think straight: that you have a maniac in your head talking nonsense to you, messing with your emotions? Spaghetti Head follows Nell Greene on her journey of self-discovery as she struggles to take control of her inner maniac: SID. Under pressure to have a child in a post-disaster world, Nell needs to find a partner – but, as SID regularly reminds her, she is incapable of trust, so how is she ever going to fall in love, let alone persuade anyone to fall in love with her? Nell enrols at a state-of-the-art therapy centre where she explores her inner world of memories and emotional attachments in an attempt to take control of SID: learn to trust: and find love. SID, however, has other ideas.
Name of character(s) to be interviewed
The interview is with two characters – Nell and SID.
Why were these character(s) choosen for this interview?
Nell and her ego, SID are the main characters in the book. Everyone has an ego and Nell has a particularly challenging relationship with hers. After all they have been through together, Nell asked if they could feature in the character interview.
Start of Interview
What first made you want to appear in Sarah Tyley’s book?
Answer:
SID: There was an advertisement looking for someone with issues around trust, commitment and low self-esteem to participate in a social study. Nell was the obvious candidate!
NELL: Thanks! It took a few days before I was ready to accept that I fitted that description, but then I contacted the name given in the ad. They were looking for a character to attend one of the cutting-edge therapy centres in Scandinavia to work through their issues. Their journey through therapy would be recorded and published in a fictional self-help novel. I thought it was exactly what I needed, and the idea that my experience could help others really excited me – so how could I refuse?
Why do you think SID was always a negative, rather than positive, influence in your life?
Answer:
NELL: Because I let her be. I didn’t take responsibility for the thoughts I was having and the influence they were having on my life – they had all become a habit, and the easy option was to go along with it.
SID: I don’t look at it like that. I didn’t think I was being negative. To me, I was protecting Nell from being hurt or disappointed.
If you weren’t an environmental journalist, what would you be?
Answer:
NELL: An organic dairy farmer.
SID: And have to get up at 5am to milk? I don’t think so.
NELL: I’d program Alice to do the milking!
Alice is?
Answer:
SID: Nell’s house-bot.
NELL: And my best friend.
I get the impression you are closer to your Granma than your Mum – is that true?
Answer:
NELL: It is now! I don’t know how I’ll ever re-build my relationship with Mum after all that’s happened.
SID: Your Mum didn’t have much choice, Nell.
NELL: Yes she did, there’s always a choice.
If you had your time again, is there anything you would change?
Answer:
NELL: Of course! But I won’t have it again, so I live life believing that everything happens for a reason: everything has its time.
SID: As for me, now I realise what effect I had on Nell, I’d have been a better friend to her from the word go.
NELL: Wow – can you imagine having said that six months ago? Thanks SID, but it’s okay – all is as it should be.
***
That brings us to the end of this character interview. I hope you found it as interesting as I did, delving into the mind of the lead character. If you did enjoy this character interview, please consider supporting the author by purchasing your own copy of Spaghetti Head by Sarah Tyley via your favourite book retailer or using one of my Amazon affiliate links below. You are welcome to browse the full list of books I have written if you are looking for more books to purchase.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Character Interview: Spaghetti Head by Sarah Tyley appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
Sunday Snippet: BITTERSWEET FREEDOM by author JUDITH BOGNAR BEAN
Today’s Sunday Snippet is from the MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY/ROMANCE/TRUE STORY/WWII/HISTORY book called BITTERSWEET FREEDOM by author JUDITH BOGNAR BEAN. It was published in June 2019 and is available as a Softcover (ISBN 9781733179317), Hardcover (ISBN 9781733179300) and epub/Kindle/mobi (ISBN 9781733179324). The publisher is CARPTHIAN VALLEY BOOKS
Synopsis of BITTERSWEET FREEDOM by author JUDITH BOGNAR BEAN
The author recounts the Saga of her 1956 Hungarian Refugee family as a memoir and biography, with a historical perspective.
Judith’s father, a renowned musician and Freedom Fighter, with a death sentence pronounced upon him by the Red (Soviet) Army, makes a treacherous and harrowing escape from Hungary with his wife and two-year-old daughter (the author), one cold November night in 1956, searching for a beacon of hope shrouded amidst swampy marshland – a small, wooden bridge, waiting to lead the family to a Shining place of Freedom – America.
With heart-pounding detail of the cruel atrocities suffered by her parents as children during World War II in Hungary, and the brutality inflicted upon the Hungarian people as the 1956 Revolution shattered their world, Judith chronicles the years between 1933 to 2010.
But in America – the family must fight the most formidable enemies of all – Ethnic persecution, destitution, communal conflict, and the bitter pain of family dissent and adversity.
Pure Love is the only power on earth strong enough to carry them through the turbulent tides ebbing away at the foundation of their lives. But is the family’s love powerful enough, strong enough, to sustain them through the bittersweet journey ahead? Only the torrents of time would tell …
In today’s climate of turbulent world events, Judith’s allegory, with its globally prevalent themes of war, cultural inequity, national rebellion, family discourse, marriage, birth, death, and the magnificent power of Love Everlasting, is timely and inspirational.
The author, born in Budapest Hungary, a former medical transcriptionist of over thirty years, turned writer, lives in North Carolina with her husband and son.
Her passions include perpetuating her Hungarian Heritage, contributing to numerous charitable causes, and being “Patriotically American.” Judith has forever enshrined her family’s valiant legacy within these pages.
Name of chapter: ESCAPE!
The Red Warmongers had succeeded in obliterating the Magyar’s once fruitful homeland and in their victory the “iron hand” of communist oppression clamped its choking hold about Hungary, suffocating the hopes, dreams, and lifeblood from the captives held within its borders.
Thousands had made the difficult decision to leave the country for a wondrous place called “Andau.” Andau -where freedom was real and waiting – waiting for those with the courage and strength to make the perilous journey.
Ferenc had given Jozsef and Erzsebet a crudely-drawn map outlining their route to Andau, Austria, including instructions about the “freedom truck” pickup route run by an underground network to take as many citizens to freedom as was possible. Ferenc looked at his dear cousin, his boyhood friend, and companion. How he would miss him, but on this momentous evening, his mission was to assure safe passage for his beloved friend and his family. As much as Ferenc wished Jozsef could remain he begged him to leave quickly, “Jozsef, there is no time left, you must go. You must leave tonight and very soon!”
The enormity of the situation was incomprehensible. Jozsef and Erzsebet had hoped the United States would come to Hungary’s aid, and now, with Ferenc’s disastrous news, even if help came from the West, it would be too late for them. They had to get out now! Erzsebet’s heart twisted as if massive steel chains were squeezing the blood from its arteries. With tear-filled eyes she pleaded to Jozsef, “I must say goodbye to my family – my mother – my father!” Her face grimaced, its stressed contours reflecting the pain in her soul. “No, no, my love,” Jozsef insisted, “There is no time for goodbye. We can tell no one we are leaving. No one! Once we leave there is no turning back. Someday, somehow, if we survive our escape, we will see our families again. I promise you. We will.” He held Erzsebet close to his chest, stroking her hair, softly whispering in her ear, “It is time now, we must go.” Jozsef knew his political actions had put his family in harm’s way. The secret police would find him and them!
Despite the price they had to pay – to leave their country, their home, Jozsef and Erzsebet would not have done things differently. The Soviet regime had made their lives intolerable and things would not get better.
Jozsef and Erzsebet’s reasons for leaving Hungary were the same as the nearly two hundred thousand people who would make their exodus to borders of freedom. Since the communist party had taken control of Hungary in 1948, and until Stalin died in 1953, the people had lived under a ruthless and harsh dictatorship. Innocent people were falsely accused of “crimes” against the State. Orphaned children were taken to State orphanages to be raised as “Good Communists.” Many of Hungary’s political leaders were put to death. And worst of all, no one could be trusted, not even family. By the early 1950s, most of the domestic products produced by the Hungarian people were confiscated and sent to supply the needs of the Soviet Union. The Hungarian people were producing plenty, but with the current system, they were slowly starving.
Upon Stalin’s death, Khrushchev, the new Soviet leader, condemned Stalin’s actions, and there was a slight decline in the cruel and callous treatment of the Hungarian people. But it was not enough. People continued to live in constant fear, for the heartless and vicious acts of the government were still in place.
As Jozsef and Erzsebet speculated on their plan of escape, they thought of their little girl. She was so very small and frail for her age of two-and-a-half, the result of an inadequate diet. And no wonder! With all the rationing in place, a family was fortunate to get a loaf of bread and cooking oil to last them for a week! Both parents shared the same unsaid fear: How was their little girl going to survive the journey? How long would it take them to reach the Austrian border? What if something caused delays and they missed their truck? They had so little food to bring with them! How many belongings could they possibly pack? How were they supposed to carry their small child in the cold inclement weather walking over miles of territory exposed to patrolling Russian troops? How was she going to stay warm? Would they be captured? Would they all die, and how? So many questions invaded their thoughts, but there was no time to ponder over the answers.
Erzsebet’s mind swam in circles as she glanced around their simple apartment. Suddenly, the gray, drab walls glistened as if made of gold. Despite its plainness, it was beautiful, because it was their place. They had worked themselves into utter exhaustion to keep the apartment after Jozsef was sent to the mines. When they left here tonight, what would become of their home? Who would move in? Erzsebet’s eyes glazed with tears, but her thoughts quickly snapped back to the situation at hand, her mind whirring frantically. What would they pack for their journey? They had only two sets of arms, and one set of those arms had to carry the child.
Adrenaline suddenly surged through Erzsebet’s body, quickening her senses, prompting her to dart about the apartment, madly sifting through drawers and cabinets. She gathered bread, a loop of dried sausage (kolbasz), and a small, glass bottle of milk, wrapping each in a thick cloth to protect the precious cargo. There was not much else to pack in the way of foodstuffs. She grabbed personal items: Judit’s coat, hat, gloves, boots, and scarf, and the same for her and Jozsef.
Jozsef collected their identification papers to be shown on their arrival at Andau, secured their professional certificates to prove they were college-educated people and gathered his personal music books and original, handwritten pieces of sheet music. Erzsebet checked the closet. On the floor, wrapped in a thick bundle, were at least one hundred love letters: the sweet moving stanzas of unashamed confessions of love that she and Jozsef had left for each other under their “Special Rock.” But tonight, under their surreal circumstances, the lovely spring night under the Acacia tree seemed to be a dream dreamt an eternity ago. The inviolability of their love existed in those letters and how she cherished them!
In the kitchen, Jozsef was packing his already over-stuffed attaché case with important documents, as well as filling the knapsack with the food Erzsebet had put together. “The accordion player!” shouted Erzsebet. They had almost forgotten their “Royal” Herend treasure. After all they had gone through to obtain “him” the thought of leaving without the player was inconceivable. She gathered a bed sheet and rolled the small statuette in the pale linen.
Erzsebet hurriedly dressed Judit in her winter clothes. After she and Jozsef donned their coats and boots, Jozsef placed the heavily-filled knapsack on Erzsebet’s back and placed the attaché case strap over his shoulder and across his chest.
The love letters! Erzsebet remembered they were not packed! But where was she going to put them all? She had no pockets in her coat and neither did Jozsef. If there had been time, she would have ripped out the lining of their coats and sewed the love letters inside, but there was no time to spare. Jozsef and Erzsebet stood frozen in place, their eyes flashing anguished looks towards one another as to “what must be done.” After taking one last lingering look at the bundle holding dozens of enchanting love poems, intimate sentiments, and beautiful expressions of their undying devotion, they each took turns placing a handful of letters into the fiery belly of the coal stove. With stuttering breath, Erzsebet spoke her thoughts aloud, “If…we cannot take them with us… then…no one else will have them!”
The parchments of love burst into a brilliant red flame, igniting instantly in the fiery furnace, just as their hearts had burned immediately for each other the moment they had met. It only took seconds for their “love” to be obliterated into nothingness as Erzsebet watched on, her slight shoulders shuddering from the cries of regret ripping through her body. How much Erzsebet wanted the luxury of being allowed to have a good, hard cry; and how much she wanted the comfort of collapsing into Jozsef’s strong arms, to hear her husband murmur words of love and support, but there was no time! Jozsef pressingly grasped Erzsebet by her shoulders, “My Edes, listen to me, there will be more letters, I will write you a love letter every day of your life, but right now, please do not cry. I love you, but we must leave now!”
Ferenc was waiting in the hallway outside the apartment to escort the family to a safe area where they were to begin their journey. Jozsef gathered Judit in his right arm. With his left arm around Erzsebet’s waist, they walked out the door of their apartment. Jozsef looked straight ahead, his mind filled with the many things needing to be done in a few hours.
But, upon exiting the apartment door, Erzsebet looked back over her shoulder, wanting one final look at their home. Stinging tears blurred everything into a shapeless, colorless mass. I should never have looked back. It strangles my heart.
Unbeknownst to Erzsebet, Jozsef had conspired with Ferenc to set-up a “Booby-trap” at the door of their apartment. After the family set out on their journey, Ferenc returned to the apartment, setting devices in place that would make sure the Evil Ones would breathe their last when they opened the apartment door.
On the cold, foggy evening of November 16, 1956, the Jozsef and Erzsebet Bognar Family closed the door on their life in Hungary, their birthplace, the land of their ancestors, the place where Jozsef’s music and rhapsodies had taken hold – the Citadel of their Love.
The life they had hoped to build was never to be, at least not on Magyar soil. With heavy hearts, the reluctant fugitives began their trek into the great unknown.
Several families embarking on the same pilgrimage crossed their path, and like Jozsef and Erzsebet, carried all they owned on their backs, in their arms, and in their hearts. To avoid detection by Russian troops, many parents had given their little ones sleeping draughts to suppress their whimpering and cries.
It was a slow, chilly, damp, five-mile walk to the check-point where Ferenc had instructed them to wait for a Russian Army truck (stolen by the Freedom Fighters) to transport the refugees the nearly one hundred miles to Andau – a distance impossible to walk in one night. The truck was their lifeline.
The family and other refugees rode in the back area of the truck for seemingly countless hours, before coming to a stop near a wooded area approximately fifty miles from the Austrian border. Everyone disembarked. The driver gave the group a general heading to follow through a dense set of woods where they would meet up with another truck on a different section of road.
Erzsebet, and Jozsef carrying little Judit, including the two other families, disappeared into the sheltering embrace of a tight cluster of trees.
The cool, foggy night was becoming more frigid, their circumstances made even more dismal by the muddy ground left from a prior rain.
The weather was the best and the worse scenario: the fog made it difficult for them to spot Russian squads making rounds in the area; however, the fog also served as a protective veil to avoid being seen, and that was a miracle considering there was nearly a full moon! After several hours of walking in the black gunk, their feet became numb due to the cold and damp.
Judit started to cry, and no wonder – she was just a little girl who was cold and hungry. How could she possibly understand why she was in a dark forest at nighttime and not in her bed? Jozsef held her close and whispered a Hungarian nursery rhyme to quiet her, “Little squirrel, little squirrel, he climbed up a tree. He fell down … he fell down … and he broke his knee. Oh, oh, oh, oh, nice doctor man, please make the little squirrel well again.”
The family trudged onward, albeit slowly, for the forest floor was sticky and sludge-like, making each step an effort. The black-brown ooze seeped over the cuffs of their ankle-high boots, permeating their socks with the near-frozen mush. Judit tired of being carried fidgeted in her father’s arms, but Jozsef refused to set her down into the cold slush. He pitied her discomfort.
The other passengers who had disembarked from the truck with them must have fallen behind or become lost, for Jozsef and Erzsebet suddenly became acutely aware of no longer being able to see or hear them.
They walked on through the thick trees in the direction pointed out by the driver. It was eerily quiet, not a sound of life stirred about them, except for the sucking sounds made by their feet as they stepped in and out of the sticky mud.
Then… out of nowhere, high-pitched, blood curdling, gut-wrenching screams of men, women and children resounded through the placidity of the imperturbable forest, signaling the angels of retribution to swoop down and carry their torn, broken souls into the chambers of Heaven, to forever leave behind the caustic, razor-sharp echoes of gunfire that had extinguished the final spark of life from their bodies.
Why was it a crime to want to live in Freedom? Why was it an offense to yearn for the clean winds of free air to flow through your lungs?
The Red Tyranny had consumed their homeland of Hungary, the occupiers laying down the law of the land, having determined that any thoughts of freedom, any thoughts of not wanting to live under the Iron Fist of the Soviet Regime, any thought of free enterprise was a travesty unto itself, an abomination so great, so filled with debauchery that one should no longer be allowed to draw another breath. The distant, hellish-red glow of reverberating machine gunfire jarred Jozsef and Erzsebet into a burning, all-consuming, profound panic, for now, the nightmarish demise of their companions would certainly become their reality as the mordant, scathing voices of the patrolling Russian soldiers approached their inept hiding place. There was no way to go back now, no safe way home, and even if they could go back home, there was no home left to go to.
Witnessing the terrifying murder of their countrymen churned Erzsebet’s bowels, and try as she might not to vomit, her plagued mind was in no condition to control her ravaged body, and she relieved her retching gut behind a nearby tree.
This is no time to lose control! Jozsef repeated over and over to himself. But Jozsef’s addled, crestfallen body refused to listen to reason, and then, as he stood immobilized by dread, riveted in place beside his ailing wife, Jozsef’s bruised psyche separated from his deadened bones.
Jozsef found himself swirling above a sanctuary of graceful tall timbers, gratefully reeling, blissfully floating away to a more peaceful place upon the elusive arms of cool, invisible winds. It was all so beautiful, fantastically beautiful, to lose all track of one’s loathsome surroundings; it was so peaceful and beautiful to be able to escape to an enchanting place far from the realities of an ugly world.
Indeed, Jozsef’s alter ego was pridefully working a marvelous illusion of beguiling deceit about him, blanketing his essence under a velvety cloak of fraudulent armor. And, Jozsef exulted in its facade, reveled in its comfort, and basked in its protection until … Until the shrieking wails of little Judit broke the magical mirror of his haven into a thousand pieces – her cries had sealed their death sentence!
Shaken from his self-aggrandizement, Jozsef heaved off his cumbrous mantle of betrayal, berating himself, hating himself, and despising himself – how could he have been so incomprehensibly irresponsible to let his guard down at this, the most critical, the most perilous moment of their lives? If the enemy found them now, it was because of him… and because of his flippancy, an agonizing end awaited those he loved more than anything in the world, more than life itself. The weight of his sin catapulted the piercing weight of a million-ton dagger through his chest, causing his knees to fold beneath him as he bent into the soil of the slimy earth.
No, no, no! We will not end this way! As a last dogged attempt to save his family, Jozsef vaulted into the deranged actions of a madman, grabbing Erzsebet’s arm, viciously tugging and pulling her and little Judit behind a thick stance of timber, a trembling finger placed upon his lips signaling them to be silent.
As she held her bawling baby daughter close to her petrified heart, sickening shudders of an inky-black, faceless, soulless doom clouded Erzsebet’s terrified mind as it unwillingly flashed grotesque images of three, ravaged, bullet-riddled bodies sprawled about the forest floor, the last warm, oozing remains of their valorous blood gathering thickly about their lifeless forms, as the viscera of the earth beneath them inhaled the crimson-colored juice of their trickling souls, the burgundy liquid seeking to nourish the buried seeds of the forest, perhaps to reincarnate into the veins of forest-green seedlings and saplings that would one day live again in the warmth of the sun – for no one would ever find them here, in this thick, muddy muck to give them a decent burial. No one.
Hardly able to take in even a shallow breath, Erzsebet dropped her knees into the slush of the cold, brown ooze, clasping Jozsef and her crying baby daughter close, whispering an anguished prayer of desperation towards the moon-filled sky, “Please God, be merciful – take our souls swiftly and do not let my baby suffer!”
Jozsef was not so quick to give in. Determined to save his family, he drew in a deep breath, as an uncontrolled animal instinct for survival overrode his fear. He snatched Judit to him, and with all his might covered her mouth with both his hands, as he tucked her tiny head under his coat, into the deepest depths of his armpit to muffle her whining.
The vociferate voices in the distance were coming closer and louder. Judit struggled under her father’s coat, but Jozsef gripped her even tighter, burying his daughter’s face deeper under his arm. Then Judit became silent. The family squatted in the cold sludge behind a dense set of brush to avoid detection by the shadowed soldiers who had halted in the opaque, misty darkness, no more than thirty feet from the crouching family.
A few moments, that felt more like hours passed, when at last, the faceless enemy strode in the opposite direction, disappearing into the foggy gray banks of mist. The fading sound of a car engine in the far-off distance confirmed the interceptors had departed, but that meant the road to their truck connection had to be near!
But, Jozsef and Erzsebet could not move, their minds and bodies bereft of strength to rise from their groveled position. After an unknown lapse of time, Jozsef’s consciousness launched him into a morbid reality, nearly strangling the life from his heart, as a sickening revulsion spread throughout his limbs – He had forgotten about Judit!
Jozsef’s bleary eyes nearly blinded him as he moved to gently disengage Judit from his armpit. His little girl’s eyes were closed, and her body hung limp in his arms. He had smothered his daughter! Erzsebet glared upon her baby’s sagging form as Jozsef helplessly held out their child to her. Her lungs ached to scream out the painful denial of her baby’s suffocation, but the prior intense encounter had paralyzed her vocal cords.
Her husband could not have suffocated her baby – he loved her beyond all reason! Her baby cannot be dead! Dear God…no, not my baby…let her live, she must live! With stifled movements of halting uncertainty, Erzsebet rested the flushed cheeks of her wind-chapped face against Judit’s thin chest straining to hear a heartbeat. “Jozsef!” she hoarsely whispered, “Look! See! – Judit’s stomach is going up and down! Our baby is asleep… she is breathing, she is sleeping… she is only sleeping!” Holding their child between them, the exhausted and terrified young family huddled close to one another on the wet, frigid, forest floor. “My baby girl, forgive me for hurting you!” Jozsef’s guilt-ridden figure shook heavily in-between deep groping breaths of remorse and repentance, his hot tears of relief tumbling onto the face of his sleeping daughter.
The young father covered his little girl with a thin blanket pulled from the knapsack, cradling her close to the warmth of his chest. No longer able to hold in the stinging lacerations of her emotions, Erzsebet wept heavily, her expended and rattled body shuddering from the abhorrence of all that had happened in such a short stance of time.
After regaining their fortitude, Jozsef edgily scanned his watch. An hour had gone by! “Hurry Erzsebet, hurry! We must make it in time for the truck!”
The family continued their flight, picking up their pace through the unwelcoming woods, at last coming upon the road leading to their pickup point. One other couple also met them there, informing Jozsef and Erzsebet of a family positioned only about two hundred feet away from their location being captured, forced into a Russian truck, and taken away.
The unmistakable roar of an engine boomed through the deceiving tranquility of the evening signaling the cautious defectors to retreat to the safety of the tree line. The truck appeared to be the same one as before, but was it? Was it supposed to be another type of truck? The vehicle stopped.
The moon was high, and by its light, they could see it was the same man who had transported them earlier. The driver called out from the vehicle to the unnerved group, “Hurry, we do not have much time – get in!” Jozsef was apprehensive. It could be a trap! The driver could have been captured and forced to drive to the pickup point to gather escapees while Russian soldiers hid in the covered back compartment waiting to capture them.
Despite his misgivings, Jozsef knew the remaining distance to Andau was too far to walk in what few hours of darkness remained. Soon, it would be daylight, and the cloak of night was necessary to elude their pursuers. They had to take the chance. Jozsef cautiously pulled aside the canvas covering the back of the truck. It was empty! The reassured refugees clambered inside and within seconds were on their way.
After seemingly endless hours had passed, the vehicle made a hard stop jolting all on board awake. Jozsef rubbed his eyes, “I wonder where we are?” With cold, stiff bodies and throbbing heads, the passengers disembarked from the rear of the truck into the ominous solitude.
The faint light of daybreak barely illuminated the dispiriting landscape. In every direction, there was nothing more than a wide expanse of desolate, marsh-like, swampy land. The driver pointed his finger “Go that way, you will see the bridge.” With those last words, he drove away. The earth was soft and oozing with wetness. The last remnants of a dissipating fog swirled about them, and with each step, their feet sank even more deeply into the gooey soil of the wetlands, but they no longer cared, their emotions too raw, and their bodies too depleted to worry anymore about cold feet or wet clothes.
Erzsebet had fed Judit milk, earlier, so she was pacified and sleeping in Jozsef’s arms. Despite feeling nauseated from all they had gone through, the couple had forced themselves to eat the kolbasz, knowing they needed its sustenance to maintain their energy.
With exhaustion pressing upon every molecule of their being, the family stumbled forward, but then, without warning, Jozsef stopped abruptly in his tracks, his finger pointing to a dreamlike image up ahead, “Look, Erzsebet!” Out of the billowing mist, the ghost-like forms of a few, then several more, and then, even more, sodden men, women, and children, emerged, each making their way towards the promising icon of hope awaiting the spent travelers. The glowing sun rose higher in the early morning sky, spreading its feathery, bright, powdery-pink streaks of a new dawn across the horizon. It must be God sending a ray of light for us to follow, thought Erzsebet. And He did. The Bridge of Andau was directly in front of them!
As the life-giving star spread its first yellow, warming rays upon the icy earth, faintly illuminated forms of fellow Hungarians materialized upon the planks of the small, ramshackle, rickety, wooden bridge spanning the narrow Einser Canal.
Jozsef and Erzsebet hearts fluttered with a rush of eagerness and excitement as a surge of exhilarating energy spread through their expended limbs, urging them to join the hundreds of pairs of shabby, muddy shoes marching upon the beams of hope stretching into the free border of Austria. Jozsef spirited little Judit to his chest. And, holding Erzsebet’s hand in his, they ran on frozen feet toward the narrow stretch of wooden supports.
Then…they were there – standing at the threshold of a New World.
***
Phewww that was a long read … if you made it this far and would like to find out what happened at the end, please consider supporting the author by buying your own copy of BITTERSWEET FREEDOM by author JUDITH BOGNAR BEAN via your favourite book retailer or using my Amazon affiliate links below
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Sunday Snippet: BITTERSWEET FREEDOM by author JUDITH BOGNAR BEAN appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb...
August 5, 2019
Else Byskov: Reincarnation is real | Podcast Interview
Else Byskov is today’s guest on The Segilola Salami Show podcast. Else shares with us how her search for answers to some of life’s pressing questions led her to discover the spiritual science of Martinus and the subsequent belief that reincarnation is real. I assure you, you need to click play now to listen to this most intriguing conversation with Else Byskov. There’s also a giveaway, so scroll down this page for more info.
The opening tune on this podcast was sponsored by singer song writer Angela Predhomme and it is from her single HIDDEN WINGS. You can listen to the full track on her website, on Apple Music or on Spotify.
If you enjoy listening to this podcast, please consider supporting it
About Else Byskov
Else Byskov is an international authority on the spiritual science of Martinus and she has written 7 books in English about aspects of his amazing insight. Her first book is called “Death Is an Illusion” and it is a general introduction to Martinus´ cosmology. Her latest book (co-authored with Maria McMahon) is called Reincarnation in a Nutshell and it explains why reincarnation is real.
You can find out more about Else Byskov and see all her books on her website.
Giveaway by Else Byskov
Else is offering one listener of this podcast the chance to win a £25 Amazon Giftcard as a thank you for taking the time to listen to her. You can only enter the giveaway on Segilola Salami’s blog. Click here to go to the blog page for this giveaway if you are reading this on another website.
Else Byskov £25 Amazon giveaway
About The Segilola Salami Show
The Segilola Salami show is hosted by Segilola Salami who is also an author, freelance writer and blogger. Please click here to see the full list of books written by Segilola Salami.
The show is set in a virtual cafe and is about books and publishing. The aim of the show is to be both educative and informative but in an entertaining way. Guests from all works of life come on the show to talk about the books they have read or written and how books motivated or inspired them. Listeners of the show get to discover new authors and new books as well as learn something new.
The show is published weekly on Tuesdays at 9 am GMT London. Please click here to subscribe to be notified when a new episode is released.
If you would like to appear as a guest on the next episode of the podcast, please click here to book your slot.
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Please download a copy of Yetunde: An Ode To My Mother by Segilola Salami on Amazon
***
I would love to know your thoughts on today’s episode “Michael J Black: Happy Endings And A New Beginning”. Please leave a comment below.
If you have found this blog post useful, you can subscribe to Segilola Salami's blog via email by visiting http://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/blog/. You can also follow Segilola Salami on Twitter https://twitter.com/iyayetunde1
The post Else Byskov: Reincarnation is real | Podcast Interview appeared first on Segilola Salami. Segilola Salami teaches a course on grief resolution https://www.segilolasalami.co.uk/memb... RSS feed&utm_medium=Online&utm_campaign=grief course
August 3, 2019
Sunday Snippet: ‘Reincarnation in a Nutshell. Why reincarnation is Real’ by Else Byskov
Today’s Sunday Snippet is from the New Age Book ‘Reincarnation in a Nutshell. Why reincarnation is Real’ by Else Byskov. Sunday Snippet: ‘Reincarnation in a Nutshell. Why reincarnation is Real’ by Else Byskov is a 129 paged book available as an ebook (ASIN: B07MNT3DX8) and a paperback (ISBN-13: 978-1792713989). It was co-written by Maria McMahon and in English and published on the 27th of December 2018.
Synopsis of ‘Reincarnation in a Nutshell. Why reincarnation is Real’ by Else Byskov
Would it not be wonderful if we did not only live one life? Would it not be great to know that death was an illusion and that we lived on after our physical body had stopped functioning? If we could know that death was not the end of life, would that not make us much less worried or afraid, make us much more confident and happier? If we could simply with one stroke eliminate all fear of death, would that not give our lives a whole new meaning and perspective? This is what this book offers the reader.
Reincarnation in a Nutshell explains why reincarnation is much more than a belief. With mathematical precision the authors explain why reincarnation simply has to be factual and they present the reasoning, the logic and the evidence for this claim. They also explain how reincarnation takes place and what the master plan of life is. This book is your exit key from the one-life theory and with this new insight you will never doubt your own immortality. Your outlook on life will forever change when you realize that death is an illusion and that your consciousness cannot be extinguished.
The insight presented in this book originates from the spiritual science of Martinus, the Danish visionary and mystic. When he was 30, Martinus experienced an expansion of his consciousness which gave him cosmic consciousness. His work is the most profound spiritual revelation ever to have been disclosed to humankind.
Chapter 1. Introduction
Is Reincarnation more than Wishful Thinking?
Would it not be wonderful if we did not only live one life? Would it not be great to know that death
was an illusion and that we lived on after our physical body had stopped functioning? If we could
know that death was not the end of life, would that not make us much less worried or afraid, make
us much more confident and happier? If we could simply with one stroke eliminate all fear of death,
would that not give our lives a whole new meaning and perspective?
The point in time where we can say that reincarnation is much more than wishful thinking is
now. Now we have the evidence, the underlying theory and the logical basis for saying that we do
not only live one life. To us, the authors of this book, reincarnation is not a belief and it is not wishful
thinking. It is a fact. We have studied this theme for more than 20 years and there is not a shadow of
a doubt to us that we live on after the death of the physical body. We are also completely convinced
that we come back to the physical plane again and again. We have lived many lives before this one
and we are going to live many lives after this. Our present life is just one in a series of lives that we
live here on Earth. And in this book, we are going to present the arguments, the logic and the
evidence for these claims.
This small book is your exit key from the one-life theory. This book will make you see the
sublime logic in reincarnation, it will show you how reincarnation takes place and it will present the
evidence. It will reveal the reasons why it simply makes no sense to live only once. We are also going
to reveal where we go when we pass over, what happens there, and how we choose our new
parents. At the end of the book you are going to be convinced that you are an eternal being on an
everlasting journey through physical and spiritual realms in a universe where the basic tone is love.
There is one important point that we have to make here: When we reincarnate, we move
forward in evolution. This means that for each life we live, we become a better, wiser, more moral
and intelligent version of ourselves. We get a finer, more advanced and beautiful human body. It is
impossible to reincarnate into subhuman species such as rats, snakes or the like. This misconception
seems to flourish among eastern religions, but it is neither logical nor indeed possible to reincarnate
into species that are completely foreign to our own genetic basis. Even in the west, most people who
have not studied reincarnation, will associate it with ´coming back to Earth as a cat, dog or
whatever´. When you have read this book, you will know that this is not possible, and you will come
to understand that in your next life you will be a more evolved human being than you are in this life.
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