C.A. Milson's Blog, page 228

Cover Reveal – A Question Of Counsel

About the Book

Title: A Question of Counsel

Author: Archer Kay Leah

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Life hasn’t been easy for Aeley since she arrested her brother, and her role as a political leader leaves her feeling isolated and lonely. Days before her brother’s trial, she meets Lira, a quiet and modest scribe who makes Aeley want more than just a professional relationship.

When she attends the trial and leaves with a marriage contract, Aeley doesn’t know what to do. She must choose one of two brothers, marrying into a family she doesn’t know. Then she discovers that Lira is part of the same family���a sister to Aeley’s suitors and the family’s disgrace. And not at all opposed to an intimate relationship.

Except random acts of violence against her people test Aeley’s ability as a leader, and a web of lies and deceit threaten not only her chance at happiness, but her life…

Available: May 27, 2015.

Preorder from the publisher, Less Than Three Press.

��Author Bio

Archer Kay Leah was raised in Canada, growing up in a port town at a time when it was starting to become more diverse, both visibly and vocally. Combined with the variety of interests found in Archer���s family and the never-ending need to be creative, this diversity inspired a love for toying with characters and their relationships, exploring new experiences and difficult situations.

Archer most enjoys writing speculative fiction and is engaged in a very particular love affair with fantasy, especially when it is dark and emotionally charged. When not reading and writing for work or play, Archer is a geek with too many hobbies and keeps busy with other creative endeavors, a music addiction, and whatever else comes along. Archer lives in London, Ontario with a same-sex partner and their cat.

Website: http://archerkayleah.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Archer-Kay-Leah-Author/170517966489444

Twitter: https://twitter.com/archerkayleah

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/ArcherKayLeah

Giveaway

Win 2 $10 Amazon gift cards during the cover reveal party!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed under: Guest Authors Tagged: A Question Of Counsel, Amazon Gift Card, Archer Kay Leah, Author, Book Cover, Book Giveaway, Fantasy novel, Giveaway, Writer

Exodus: Gods & Kings – Movie Review

Exodus: Gods & Kings (2014)

Stars: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley, Aaron Paul

IMDB Rating: 6.3

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Plot: Epic adventure Exodus: Gods and Kings is the story of one man’s daring courage to take on the might of an empire. Using state of the art visual effects and 3D immersion, Scott brings new life to the story of the defiant leader Moses as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.

Review: I have been waiting for this one for some time now, and when I finally got a chance to watch it, I was appalled by how Ridley Scott portrayed the epic story of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt.

I will say that the one good thing about this film was the cinematography and SPX. For that Mr Scott gets a bug thumbs up. Everything else…. Hmmm.. Only way to describe this film is by the following list, which I shall call: The Exodus According To Ridley Scott.

1. Instead of the whole interaction between God and Moses (as told in the MASTERPIECE The Ten Commandments), God (I AM) is portrayed as a young boy, while Moses is sinking in a mud pool

2. Ramses… The actor who played this should have looked to Yul Brynner for inspiration, as this guy’s performance was as enthralling and charismatic as a wet sponge.

3. The Plagues.. We all know the story here. Before a plague begins, Moses goes before Ramses and tells him to let the Hebrew people go. Ramses refuses, then a plague hits.. Not in this version however.

4. The Ten Commandments.. Some will know that it was the Hand Of God that wrote the Ten Commandments, and it was given to Moses to take to the people. In this version? Moses is in a cave, carving away the Commandments while the great I AM is serving him tea.

5. The Ark Of The Covenant. Everyone knows that the Ark Of The Covenant was gold plated, adorned with golden cherubim above the Ark. In this version? The sacred Ark is a wooden chest tucked into a woven basket.

6. Moses going into Canann? I don’t think so.

7. No parting of the Red Sea.

8. The Nile was turned into blood by Moses. In this version, it was the result of a mass of crocs.

9. There is more inconsistencies here but I will spare you from that

The only thing EPIC about this one was how historically inaccurate this EPIC piece of trash this movie was. Although the SPX were good, the rest of this was a waste of time.

Lord forbid if Hollywood directors decide to do a remake of the classic film, Gone With The Wind. No doubt if they do, they’ll end up calling it Gone With The Tornado.

Verdict: Save your time and watch The Ten Commandments.

Rating: 1 out of 10

 

 

Filed under: Movie Reviews Tagged: Aaron Paul, Ark Of The Covenant, Ben Kingsley, Christian Bale, Exodus: Gods & Kings, Film Review, Joel Edgerton, Movie Review, Ridley Scott, The Exodus According To Ridley Scott, The Ten Commandments, Yul Brynner

Interview With…. Sally Odgers

Hi Readers. Today I am chatting with Sally Odgers. Sally hails from The Apple Isle, Tasmania. Sally is the author of some 270 books, published over thirty-six years.

I will just say that I have had the pleasure of visiting Tassie a few years back. What I can say about Tassie is that it is very picturesque, peaceful. Although far from the rest of the world (especially for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere), it is a place you really need to visit, at least once. :)

Sally, please tell our followers something about you :)

I���m from Tasmania, and still live here. I���m arguably Tasmania���s most-published living author,��� if you go by word count and number of publications. I started writing as a child and haven���t stopped since. I���m a daughter, sister, wife, mother and grandmother and alpha-bitch to our Jack Russell pack. I write, read, walk, garden, edit and assess manuscripts for others, run a tiny collective called Prints Charming Books, a blog called Promote Me Please, a listing called Tassie Book Talks and a fleet of websites.

270 books is quite the achievement. Tell us, what inspires you to get out of bed each day?

I���m not a morning person, but I have to get up to go and see to my dad. He���s 93 and I go to his place to get him up and give him breakfast. I take a dog along.

If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?

I���d have loved to spend some time with Diana Wynne Jones. I���m not sure she���d have liked me, but it would have been interesting.

What’s the story behind your latest book?

I have two. One is Bush Rescue, a children���s book co-written with my husband. It���s part of the Pup Patrol series and is published by Scholastic. We worked up the series to follow our Jack Russell and Pet Vest series. The other is Heather and Heath, a long historical novel from Satalyte Publishing. That one sprang from research I did in the 1980s and 1990s for a tourist guide and also from family stories. It���s about three generations of women who love the high country property of Glen Heather. Scottish immigrant Ness arrives there in 1837, colonial-born Isobel marries its young owner in 1861, and her granddaughter Alice holds it during the Great War.

What are you working on next?

I always have a lot of WsiP, but most of my time is taken up with affordablemanuscriptassessments.com, my manuscript assessment and editing service. Some of the books I work on as and when I have time include a fantasy called Garlands of Thorn and May, one called The Green Door and another called Khloe: Out of Arcadia.

Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?

I���m pretty good at assessing and editing work for others. I discovered this talent by accident in the 1980s. I can also write a poem on any subject at a moment���s notice.

Who are your favorite authors?

Elizabeth Marie Pope, Diana Wynne Jones, Sally Rogers-Davidson, Michelle Tatam, Geoffrey Trease, Ruth Park, Margaret Mahy, Anne Farrell���

What do you like to do with your free time?

I don���t really have free time, since I work seven days a week. However, I do multi-task, so I walk the dogs and exercise myself while ���reading��� via audio book and doing the shopping and P.O. run. I also exercise one dog while gardening (he is our potter-dog whose back condition means he can���t do long walks).

Tell us about your plans for upcoming books.

I���m working on the last stages of two Prints Charming titles that should have been out in February. However, my dad had a fall, and so I got behind. I have a new Pup Patrol story to write and a mass of editing and assessing to do. I am also working with artist Kerri Slaven on a series called The Fairies of Farholt.

Where can people find you on the web?

www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com

www.printscharmingbooks.com

http://promotemeplease.blogspot.com.au

http://tassiebooktalks.weebly.com

sallyodgers.weebly.com

jackrusselldogdetective.com

@Sallyodgers

Amazon

SallyOdgers.com

Awesome. Thanks for being my guest here today Sally.

 

Filed under: Guest Authors, Interviews Tagged: Author, Bush Rescue, Diana Wynne Jones, Heather and Heath, http://www.sallyodgers.com, Prints Charming Books, Promote Me Please, Pup Patrol, Sally Odgers, Satalyte Publishing, Tassie Book Talks, The Apple Isle, Writer, Writing

Rise Of The Darkness – Goodreads Winners

Our recent Goodreads giveaway contest went off with a bang!

Congratulations to Valerie M and Kitty B who have each won a copy of Rise Of The Darkness on the Goodreads Giveaway.

A copy will be out to your soon.

Keep watch for other Giveaways we will be running on Goodreads! :)

Filed under: Events Tagged: #C.A.Milson, Book winner, Giveaway, goodreads, Goodreads giveaway, Rise of the Darkness, Writer, writing life

Read An Ebook Week – Smashwords

Hi Book Lovers!

This week it’s Read An Ebook Week over at Smashwords from March 1 to March 7.

Check out the range of titles we have by some very talented authors.

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/authorcamilson

 

Filed under: Events Tagged: Discounted Ebooks, Ebooks, Read An Ebook Week, Smashwords

Interview With …. S.M. Stryker

Hey readers. Today I chat with romance author, S.M. Stryker.

Shelly (SM), hails from Oregon WA; Has been married almost 28 years and has 4 grown daughters and 2 grandkids.

Shelly, thanks for being my guest here today. Please tell our readers a little something about yourself.

To say I grew up in a dysfunctional family is putting it mildly. Although at the time it was the only thing I knew. I escaped by getting married right out of school which I thought was the only way to escape. However, that put me into another type of dysfunction. After five years and a child, I knew she was more important than I was, and soon I was on my own again. I always knew that my life would make a good story or soap opera, and I thought about writing, but I had a child to take care of and everything I did, I did with her in mind.

I never had a childhood; I started working at a very early age and didn’t stop until I remarried. We had agreed that we wanted to raise our own children. 25 years later and 3 more girls, I started to think about my life and the idea of writing again. I wasn’t an avid reader as I didn’t have the time. Between the girls’ school and sports, I ran non-stop for them, but once they were on their own, I needed some distraction other than work.

I had returned to the work force several years earlier to a career that was flexible to the girls’ schedule. Once my youngest was out of the house in college, I was offered a job that gave me the security I needed.

I had picked up a book to read during my lunch hour and found that I wasn’t the only one that lived a dysfunctional childhood. I contacted a few authors that I had read and asked them questions about writing, and they gave me their advice and in April of 2014, I came home from work, pulled out my computer and started to write. This was part of my story; I sat in front of my computer pulling old memories of my childhood and teen years. It was hard, but my hope was to let other people know that if they had gone through what I had, they could come out the other side. That was the start of how I started writing.

Every story I have written has a part of my life in it.

Shelly, What inspires you to get out of bed each day?

Currently, it is writing. I find that I am not a very nice person when I go through withdrawals from writing. I love it. I love my characters and the stories they live.

If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?

I don’t know. I don’t ever want to be that person that weighs down another out of obligation. I would want them to want to hang out with me and not for just a day, but out of friendship.

What’s the story behind your latest book?

It’s about a girl that finds herself on the streets and what she has to do to survive, how she finds love and loses it and the friendships she finds along the way and how what she thought about a past love wasn’t really, what happened. It a story of second chances.

What are you working on next?

A story about a man that has put his life into his work. His parents are his only friends and what happens to him when they die in an accident. What helps him cope and what gives him the will to live and how he is shown love, the kind of love that he has never had before.

Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?

I don’t think so. I’m just a wife, mother, and grandmother that loves to tell stories to make people feel good. To let them know that life isn’t fair but they can come out the other side and be a survivor and not a victim

Who are your favorite authors?

Sylvan Reynard, JC Reed, HM Ward, Vi Keeland, Jasinda Wilder, EL James

What do you like to do with your free time?

Write, every second I get.

Tell us about your plans for upcoming books.

I am currently writing about some of the characters in my second book Never Forgotten Love. Book 3 Loved and Belonged (in editing not 100% on the name as of yet) is about two of the characters in the book. He is an ex-marine, she a young runaway looking for her mother. This book should be out in the next two months. My current book I am writing, book 4, doesn’t have a name as of yet, but it is also about a couple that are in my past books. He was introduced in Never Forgotten and she was introduced in book 3 (Loved and Belonged) these are not ‘series’ book but more sequels. You don’t have to get Never Forgotten to know what is happening in Loved and Belonged. Etc.

Awesome. Where can people find you on the web?

https://www.facebook.com/Author.S.M.Stryker

http://smstryker.wix.com/smstryker

Although I have many social media places, I am primarily on Facebook.

Any final thoughts?

I never though I would enjoy writing so much. I lost my job of three years because of my first book Stolen Innocence. They didn’t like the content and always carried a composition book with me for ideas and phrases that I might come up with. It was eight months before I could get a job. Although Stolen Innocence is very mild compared to what I lived, it was my life. I changed my name not wanting others to know who I was and what I had gone through. I realized that I was doing the same thing I accused others of doing, sweeping sexual assault under the carpet. I was a victim all over again. Once it was published, I didn’t’ care, I wanted people to know what things I had gone through in my childhood and if I could help one person that is all that mattered to me.

Do I want to be a well-known author, Hell Yes! but that’s not why I wrote Stolen, it was healing for me, and even though Amazon banned it a couple times due to incest (I had to change that to an adoptive father) and water down the scene of abuse, people need to be aware that sexual abuse happens all the time, we have to start listening to our children, it might not be in words but actions, changes in personality. Don’t sweep it under the carpet because that person that might have hurt your child is a nice guy and that he would never do such a thing…He’s a pastor, and uncle, a brother. Stop worrying about the scary man because it is usually someone you know. (off my soapbox now)

Thanks Shelly for being my guest here today. Readers, if you want to grab a copy of Shelly’s books, you can get them on Amazon:

Stolen Innocence

Never Forgotten Love

and don’t forget to connect with the author on Goodreads, and Twitter.

 

Filed under: Guest Authors, Interviews Tagged: "Loved and Belonged ", "Never Forgotten Love", "Stolen Innocence", Author, Interviews, S.M. Stryker, Shelly (SM) Stryker, Writer, Writers, Writing

Zombieworld – Movie Review

Zombieworld (2015)

Stars: No�� Blancafort, Lauren Brady, Jeff Newman

IMDB Rating: 3.5

Plot: There is nowhere to hide…nowhere to run…the Zombie Apocalypse has come, and our world now belongs to the dead! From Ireland, Canada, Australia, Europe and all over the U.S., the bone-chilling news reports tell the same gruesome tale – walking corpses terrorize and devour the living. Only a few desperate humans find the courage to stand and fight for their last chance at survival. But the hordes of undead keep coming, and there’s only one thing on the menu – us.

Fast Review: Zombieworld starts off promising, then gets downright silly and looses any sense of flow. If you are looking for a zombie flick that is more or less a series of poorly done skits, then watch this. Otherwise, stay clear. I for one couldn’t sit through this one.

My Rating: 1 out of 10.

Filed under: Movie Reviews Tagged: B Grade films, Jeff Newman, Lauren Brady, No�� Blancafort, Zombie flick, Zombies, Zombieworld (2015)

Interview with Madison Brightwell

Hey readers. Today’s interview is with author, actress and voice-over artist, Madison Brightwell.

Madison is originally from England, and she moved to California in 1997 and now lives in Redondo Beach.

Madison works as a psychotherapist specializing in the fields of addiction, chronic pain and trauma. (www.newhealingjourneys.com) and she is also a certified hypnotherapist.

She has also been a creative artist all her life, and she loves to act, sing, dance – and of course, write! :)

Onto the interview :)

Madison, What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
I’m very goal-oriented and I always seem to have something I wish to achieve or some project that I’m working on and inspired by. Usually the first thing I think when I wake up is a combination of, “I must do…” something or other, and “I want a cup of tea.” I’m English and the thought of tea can get me out of bed when all else fails!

If you could hang out with one famous person from history for one day, who would it be and why?
Great question! I’ve always loved Buster Keaton and in fact I wrote and performed in a solo show about him back in the 80’s. I have seen all of his movies and I had the pleasure of seeing his wife Eleanor Keaton on stage giving a talk about him in London. I think he was a genius performer and an interesting person. I would have loved to hand out on the movie set of one of his great films such as the General or Steamboat Bill and watch him work. He used to do all of his own stunts and some of them were pretty extraordinary, such as the time he had the whole side of a building fall on him.

What���s the story behind your latest book?
Of my four novels, all of which were written in the 1990’s when I was living in England, the most recent one is Russian Doll. What is amazing to me about that book – and about all of my novels in fact – is that many of the themes covered in the novel were things that are much more a part of my daily life today. The novel depicts a romance between an older successful art dealer and a young girl who works as a psychic for the police and who has a traumatic past that comes to light gradually through the book. Without giving away too much, the girl is not all she seems. She has gone into a sort of denial or dissociation for the traumatic things that happened to her and she is trying to escape from her past and change her identity. They say that life imitates art sometimes. When I wrote that book I had a layman’s interest in psychology only, and I worked mainly as an actress. Now, almost two decades later, I am actually working as a psychologist and a licensed mental health therapist here in California. In my work I am faced every day with the kids of issues that this character is facing. It seems almost premonitory that I wrote that novel when I had no idea at that time that the themes depicted would be so much a part of my life many years later.

All of my other three novels – particularly the other two psychological crime thrillers – are also somewhat predictive in this way. For example, they all four have something in them that deals with the issue of prescription drugs having unwarranted and unexpected side effects. I now work with a medical doctor who is very against the misuse of prescription medications that is so prevalent in this country at the moment (as am I) and in fact he made a documentary called “American Addict” that directly addresses this issue. I find it extraordinary that I was writing about these things 20 years ago (in the case of my first book, Most Diminutive of Birds, which I started writing in 1986) and now they are very topical and pressing issues that I deal with every day in my work.

What are you working on next?
I am in the middle of my doctoral program and due to graduate later this year so for the next few months at least I will probably be focusing mainly on my doctoral project and possibly on an accompanying self-help book in the health field. Both of these will probably relate to the issues of addiction, chronic pain and trauma, that are the major focus of my work as a therapist.

After that, I am looking forward to getting on with my next novel project. I already have the title, location and theme of the book and I am excited to begin working on it! It is called “Lunada Bay” and it will be my first novel set in Southern California where I now reside, in a little beach community near my home. As I have worked in the field of addiction for a few years now and that is an area full of dramatic potential, the novel I’m sure will focus on addiction or an addiction facility in some way, and it will probably be another psychological crime thriller, since that is my preferred genre.

Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
Yes, lots! As well as writing, I like to do just about anything creative. I love to act, sing, dance and do improv; I can do a variety of different accents; I can type at about 110 wpm; I love Lumosity games online and am currently ranked in the 93rd percentile for Speed games; I play several musical instruments including the harp; I’m a great whistler!

Who are your favorite authors and singers?
In terms of contemporary novels I am a huge fan of Ruth Rendell (who is also called Barbara Vine for some of her books). She is an English author who specializes in psychological crime thrillers and many of her books have been turned into television series in England as she is very popular. I was very flattered to be compared with her once, when somebody read my first novel.��

For more literary works, I love the novels of Thomas Hardy, The Bronte sisters and Jack London. I visited the home of the Brontes in Yorkshire and they occupy a special place in my heart as I am also from Yorkshire.

As for singers, I’m a big fan of swing and jazz ballads from the 1930s and 40s, so I guess my favorite would have to be Ella Fitzgerald. I also love Sting, as he hails from the North of England too, and I like the political nature of his music now.

What do you like to do with your free time?
I love swing and ballroom dancing; I love hiking and there are many wonderful scenic spots near where I live so I’m very lucky; I have three cats and sometimes it’s fun just to hang out with them; I enjoy gardening and I have a rooftop deck where I grow herbs and vegetables in pots; I love acting and singing and I occasionally perform in plays or musicals; I love movies and I’d love to see one of my novels make it to the big screen one day.

Where can fans find you on the web?

madisoncbrightwell.com
facebook.com/madisoncbrightwell
Amazon - All of my books are now available as audiobooks, read by the author. As an actress and VoiceOver artist, I have been narrating other people’s audiobooks for many years, so I thought I would be the perfect person to read my own. I also had fun recently making four little book trailers for the novels and they can all be found on YouTube.

Thanks Madison for being my guest today.

Filed under: Guest Authors, Interviews Tagged: actress, Author, Barbara Vine, Books, Jack London, Madison Brightwell, Ruth Rendell, The Bronte sisters, Thomas Hardy, voice-over artist, Writer, Writing

Interview with Danielle Maistry

Hey readers. Today’s interview is with debut author, Danielle Maistry.

Danielle was born in South Africa and moved to Melbourne, Australia in 2002. She is currently finishing her Bachelor of Psychological Sciences, and aims to Master in Clinical Neuro-psychology, if her love for animals doesn’t come in the way!

Danielle’s passion for writing stems from her enjoyment of escaping into different worlds; through her writing, she hopes she can give the reader an opportunity to enter these worlds, and be apart of the compelling and exciting action she loves!

On to the interview :)

What inspires you to get out of bed each day?

Knowing that I’m blessed to still have the gift of life! There’s so much to do and so many new opportunities to explore and learn something new.

When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?

I like to watch movies and TV shows, listen to music, read a book or just sit down and talk to a friend :)

When did you first start writing?

That’s a big question… Grade 6; my first book was about me being in a forest and meeting talking animals (as every kid would imagine!) Then soon after, I wrote the beginnings of a short story which, years later, ended up turning into my first published novel.

What’s the story behind your latest book?

In 2007, the end of Grade 6, I went to Tasmania with my family for a holiday. One of the places we went to was Port Arthur, an old convict penitentiary. Upon arrival, we were given playing cards which were assigned to a real convict. There was an area where we went to see which convict our card was assigned to. Mine was 3 of hearts, assigned to a young convict boy named Walter Paisley. After reading up on him on the internet for my own curiosity, the resource I read said that he seemed to have lived a life which was deemed a ‘failure’. I felt bad for the poor boy! So that was when the curiosity of his life and his time in prison, as well as the entire Port Arthur convict history, began to brew in my mind.

What motivated you to become an author?

I love writing; it started off by me imagining random stories I could think about to distract me from the real world, which soon turned into me putting my imagination down on paper

What are you working on next?

Another Historical novel hopefully! Two are on the back-burner at the moment; deciding whether to continue on with the one based in Ancient Rome, one or the one based in Medieval England.

Who are your favorite authors?

Stephen R. Lawhead (The Pendragon Cycle is amazing), J. R. R. Tolkien (Gotta love Lord of the Rings!)… And I love any good crime novel :)

Thanks for being my guest today Danielle.

Danielle’s debut novel is coming later in 2015 from ASJ Publishing.

Filed under: Guest Authors, Interviews Tagged: Author, Books, debut author, debut writer, new author, Port Arthur, Writer, Writing

Goodreads Giveaway ��� The Students Sold Us Secrets Volume One

Goodreads Giveaway. Starting March 1

Win an Autographed copy of The Students Sold Us Secrets Volume 1 by Lee Mavin!

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway


The Students Sold Us Secrets Volume One
by Lee J. Mavin

Giveaway ends March 14, 2015.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Filed under: Events Tagged: ASJ Publishing, Author, Book Giveaway, goodreads, Goodreads giveaway, Guest Authors, Horror, Writer, Writers, Writing