Melissa H. Coleman's Blog, page 5

Deadly Memories

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Title: Deadly Memories

Author: Mary Alford

Genre: Fiction – Romantic Suspense

Formats: Mass Market Paperback & eBook

Published by: Love Inspired Suspense, Harlequin Digital Sales Corp. [image error]

ISBN-13: 978-0373457151

Pub. Date: June 6, 2017

Number of pages: 224

Content Warning: N/A

Age Restriction: Adults

Purchase at: Amazon.com, B&N, Amazon.ca & Amazon.co.uk

[image error]Author Bio: Mary Alford was inspired to become a writer after reading romantic suspense greats Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney. Soon creating characters and throwing them into dangerous situations that test their faith came naturally for Mary. In 2012 Mary entered the Speed Dating contest hosted by Love Inspired Suspense and later received “the call”. In addition to writing for Love Inspired Suspense, Mary also writes Christian romance and sweet romance. Being a published author has been a dream come true for Mary.

Book Synopsis: Amnesia may be keeping Ella Weiss from remembering her past—but not from saving the little boy who’s been her fellow prisoner the last seven years. After managing to escape her cell, all she wants is to find where little Joseph is being kept. Instead she runs straight into CIA agent Kyle Jennings. Kyle isn’t sure if Ella is actually a kidnap victim or if she’s working for the gunrunner he’s been after. One thing he is certain of is her uncanny resemblance to the wife he thought he’d buried. To save a child’s life and stop a terrorist from slipping through his fingers, he’ll need to uncover the secrets of Ella’s past—and whether or not she’s really the woman he’s never stopped loving.

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Find and follow on her website, Facebook and Twitter

The book tour page so you and your readers can follow along:  http://www.nurtureyourbooks.com/upcoming-nurture-book-tour-deadly-memories-mary-alford/

 

Poetry by Me

Quixotic

Swirling hues of green and blue

Separated suddenly to breakthrough

Into a vision, a prophetic hallucination

Standing before me; Earthmother and cauldron

 

The sun flared gold and bon-fire red

As Earthmother twisted her Shagbark head

Chanting unwords I listened and stood

As new life appeared from her branches of wood

 

Cascading green leaves and fragrant flowers grew

While tiny damselflies flitted and flew

The sound of a drum aroused my perception

And I turned to behold a buff reflection

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For there on the ground, a pond of clear water

Bubbled and frothed as it began to alter

Lightening struck the ground like Neptune’s fork

As peculiar creatures took flight with torque

 

Out of the water the demon rose

To add his claim to Earthmother’s woes

In a rapture he slashed and cut down the trees

Maned the animals and killed all the bees

 

The moon turned red and the wind stood still

Death and destruction to him was a thrill

The Earthmother cried at the needless bloodstain

Then turned to her cauldron of arcane

 

Fervently she chanted a healing prayer

To encourage mankind to take notice and care

About the fragile Earth we live upon

And how healthy and happy we can become.

(C) 2018

Enchanted Gathering

Brownies bustled sweeping the forest floor

Chimera took charge supervising them all

Faeries, by the dozen maybe hundreds, mingled in a buzz

As Fuaths, the ugly little jerks, mischievous, poked tongues

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Gnomes patted the dust from their peaked red hats

While Pixies played the tambourine like aristocrats

A group of Elves stood to the side, their noses up high

Pegasus kept a keen look out high in the sky

 

For the word was in the woodland that day

That the ancient spirits would come out and play

 

Music could be heard, soft sounding from far away

Coming closer; the Mountain Nymphs began to sway

Keen excitement, respectful fear, and eager hope

Tingled through the gathering, as a kaleidoscope

 

Of auras surrounded the scene

And the image of the ancients who had been

Present when the Earth was born shone upon them

Giving them love and hope and the energy to become

 

The best creature they could be in a forest full of ones

An individual, a being, an entity of love

Live in harmony, pursue your dreams

And praise the earth, the sun and moonbeams.

(C) 2018

 

Much love

Mel xx

 

The Consul’s Daughter by Mark Knowles

[image error]Author Bio: Mark Knowles read degrees in Classics and Management Studies at Downing College, Cambridge. After a decade working as a frontline officer and supervisor within the Metropolitan Police Service, he became Head of Classics at a school in Harrogate. He is a particular fan of experimental archaeology and rowed on the reconstructed Ancient Athenian trireme ‘Olympias’ during its last sea trials in Greece in 1994.

Book Synopsis: Rome, AD 205: Tribune Ambrosius Milo is the only man in his cohort who enjoys the night watch. Somewhere in the darkness is the man who murdered his wife, and one day he will catch him. But one cold February morning, the fog lifts to reveal the dead body of a young girl on the banks of the Tiber. Led by the quick-tempered Ambrosius, the watchmen track a grim murder scene and locate several seemingly vital clues. But there is trouble afoot, for this was no ordinary young girl. She is a consul’s daughter and, when her distraught parents come to claim her body, it has mysteriously vanished from the Watch House crypt … From the intrigues within the Imperial household to the mean streets of Ancient Rome, The Consul’s Daughter is a red-blooded crime novel based on true events and documented characters.

Find and follow on his: website and on Twitter

Book info:

Title: The Consul’s Daughter: A red-blooded crime thriller based on true events[image error]

Author: Mark Knowles

Genre: Historical Fiction – Murder/Mystery, Crime/Thriller

Formats: Paperback & eBook

Published by: Endeavour Press

ISBN-13: 978-1973216827

Pub. Date: November 3rd, 2017

Number of pages: 343

Content Warning: 18+ for brief nudity and violence

Purchase at: Amazon.com, Amazon.ca & Amazon.co.uk

 

The book tour page

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The Transfomation from Life

I don’t usually write so many blogs in so few days, but I’ve been stumped with my novel writing. I was listening to a broadcast this morning about death and how it can help us live mindfully. And no, before your fingertip clicks that mouse, this is not a morbid 300 or so words about dying. The opposite, in fact! It’s about the best discussion I’ve heard on how to relate to death.

It’s important to start each day with a fresh perspective and insight so while sipping my coffee I listened in.

I realised the key to my happiness is in my hands. I have the choice to live a happy life or, on the other hand, to play the victim. Why spend the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself and being miserable. Luckily, that just isn’t me. And the information provided on this day left me with food for thought. The best thing to do is share it.

The interview I listened too with Frank Ostaseski, author of “The Five Invitations”, was on the topic of what death can teach us about living mindfully.

Frank Ostaseski is a Buddhist teacher, an international lecturer and a leading voice in end-of-life care. In 1987, he co-founded of the Zen Hospice Project, the first Buddhist hospice in America. In 2004, he created the Metta Institute to provide innovative educational programs and professional training that foster compassionate, mindfulness-based care. He is a extremely versed man.

FEAR OF DYING

Thanatophobia, the fear of death, this apprehension to the process of  dying is a common feeling in our culture today. But what if we look at it as a transformation? And this is the thought that really impressed upon me.

[image error]The analogy that life is a transformation to death, just as a Caterpillar’s life ends, so to speak, and a new life as a butterfly begins, is not only comforting but also intriguing. A transformation.  We experience transformations when we discard old ideas, beliefs, or habits, to allow for a new personal chapter of spiritual and emotional rebirth. A new beginning. So, why fear death? It can be seen as a new beginning, right?

Death is not waiting for us at the end of a long road. Death is always with us, in the marrow of every passing moment, a secret teacher hiding in plain sight, helping us to discover what matters most in life.  Frank Ostaseski

The ultimate revelation is death is an integral part of life. And we need to learn to see it as such. Life and death go hand in hand. We can learn from it by not seeing death as an enemy but as the dawn of a new beginning.

SYNOPSIS OF ‘THE FIVE INVITATIONS’ BY FRANK OSTASESKI

Life and death are a package deal. They cannot be pulled apart and we cannot truly live unless we are aware of death. The Five Invitations is an exhilarating meditation on the meaning of life and how maintaining an ever-present consciousness of death can bring us closer to our truest selves. As a renowned teacher of compassionate caregiving and the cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project, Frank Ostaseski has sat on the precipice of death with more than a thousand people. In The Five Invitations, he distills the lessons gleaned over the course of his career, offering an evocative and stirring guide that points to a radical path to transformation.[image error]

The Five Invitations:

-Don’t Wait

-Welcome Everything, Push Away Nothing

-Bring Your Whole Self to the Experience

-Find a Place of Rest in the Middle of Things

-Cultivate Don’t Know Mind

These Five Invitations show us how to wake up fully to our lives. They can be understood as best practices for anyone coping with loss or navigating any sort of transition or crisis; they guide us toward appreciating life’s preciousness. Awareness of death can be a valuable companion on the road to living well, forging a rich and meaningful life, and letting go of regret. The Five Invitations is a powerful and inspiring exploration of the essential wisdom dying has to impart to all of us.

The Five Invitations can be purchased at  Amazon and all good bookstores

WEBSITE – https://fiveinvitations.com/

 

SOLD!

The Gold Coast swelters in record temperatures, and car salesman Gary Braswell’s hot under the collar. With sales at rock-bottom, and up to his neck in debt to loan shark Jocko Mackenzie, Gary’s sweating on a fat commission from a mysterious Russian couple.

If the loan is not repaid, there’s more than Gary’s kneecaps at stake…

Welcome, Blair Denholm, crime writer, to my guest author interview. Pull up a chair and let me fire questions at you under this ultra bright light bulb. *Switches on light bulb – glares in his face.*

[image error]What is your writing Kryptonite?

If you mean what distracts me from the task at hand, then it could be one of a million things. But the one thing that will make me get out of my writer’s chair and onto the couch, aside from a medical emergency involving family and/or pets, would have to be sport on the TV. Anything with people chasing a ball around. And, of course, the bloody Internet. I’m seriously thinking of getting one of those “antisocial” type blockers so that I can just write with abandon and not be constantly checking for updates that right now are so fascinating but will have absolutely no meaning tomorrow. Or in an hour’s time, let’s be honest.

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

There are so many traps for inexperienced players, it’s hard to know where to begin. Let’s run with some of the obvious ones – obvious to me, that is.

Firstly, many newcomers entertain the false notion that quality work automatically equals success. Newbie writers sometimes think all they have to do is write a masterpiece in their genre of choice, the books will fly off the shelves and they’ll be rich and famous in no time. Sadly, the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. I talk a little bit about the need to embrace self-promotion in a blog piece I wrote a little while ago.

Another huge mistake is not getting your work checked or edited properly. This is particularly true in the world of self-publishing. I see so many e-books on Amazon that look like they were put together by a toddler – not just weak formatting, but elementary errors of language, grammar, style. It’s sad. People often have great stories to tell, but inattention to detail technically lets them down big time. And if you’re thinking of submitting to a traditional publishing house, your submission will be tossed in the bin or deleted from the inbox in a nanosecond if it obviously hasn’t been seen by an editor. Get your work checked! Preferably by a couple of people.

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Thirdly, I’d have to say that lots of writers don’t read enough. A good writer must be a voracious reader. Those who read across different genres will have the most rounded and mature styles that appeal to a broader section of the community. Read the classics, the latest best-sellers, biographies and other non-fiction. Turn off the TV. Choose life … Oops, drifting into Trainspotting there. Sorry.

Does a big ego help or hurt writers?

A bit of both. If you start to enjoy some success, then you may be asked to do interviews on TV, radio or for a newspaper. You might get asked to give a talk. If you’re a shrinking violet, these tasks – essential for any writer who wants to make progress – are non-negotiable. You simply must front up. So in that sense, a big ego can be a plus. On the other hand, nobody likes an arrogant so-and-so who can’t stop banging on about how good they are.

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

I’ve made friends with some writers in my publisher’s stable who, although not as well known as Steven King or J.K. Rowling, are nevertheless talented and highly-skilled writers. These include Narrelle Harris, Ruth Wykes and Barry Weston. Well-known writers who have helped me with advice include Nick Earls, Emma Viskic and Heather Rose. All of these have been only too happy to answer any questions I’ve had about the writing process and the business of being a writer.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Read more books. Particularly books about the craft of writing.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

I’ve self-published a children’s book called Escape from Passing Winds that features a young girl, Catherine, as the main character. I wrote the book many years ago but only put it out into the wild this year. I modeled Catherine on my step-daughter, so in that sense, I had some raw material to work with. There are also pivotal females in SOLD. Many authors write protagonists of the opposite sex (Agatha Christie’s detective Poirot springs to mind). I don’t see it as a huge problem if one avoids generalisations and stereotypes, most of which don’t hold much water these days anyway.

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What is your favourite childhood book?

I adored a series called Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators. It was about three teenage boys who solved mysteries. Like Scooby-Doo minus the dog. And the van. When I was about 10 or so I read Peter Benchley’s Jaws and thought I was so grown-up. I actually credit Jaws as the book that got me into reading.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Yes, but I’m not saying. People think it’s about exploding ibises and their secret meaning, but…

How many hours a day do you write?

When I’m on a roll, up to six hours. But with the millstone of a day job around my neck and other hobbies (like stuffing my face full of chips while watching the Broncos on TV), it’s usually only between one and two. I’m making a New Year’s resolution to increase that in 2018. I have a sequel to deliver, after all!

Tell us about your latest projects and where we can find them?

I’m working on the second installment of the Gary Braswell series (there will be three in all, fingers crossed) and I hope to have the first draft completed in the next six months. I’m not one of those writers who like to flaunt their WIPs (works in progress); I keep them shielded from the harsh light of criticism until it’s time for the big reveal. Apart from that, I have plans to write a crime novel set in Moscow in the 1980s that will be much darker than SOLD. It’s the one I’ve always wanted to write, tentatively called Revolution Day. 

Links:

http://www.blairdenholm.com/

https://clandestinepress.com.au/author/blair-denholm

https://www.facebook.com/blairdenholm/

www.instagram.com/blairdenholm/

https://twitter.com/blairdenholm

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WHY DO WE GIVE?

Traditionally, Christmas is a religious holiday to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, and many people still choose to attend Church services at this time of year. But in the year 2017, Christmas can mean a whole variety of things to a whole variety of people.

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” — Norman Vincent Peale

I ask myself why can’t we be in this state of awareness all year round. Christmas time is about bringing the best out of ourselves; being altruistic and compassionate. We’re told that true joy comes in giving, not receiving.

And it’s true, giving can make you feel good especially when you do it enthusiastically and out of the goodness of your heart. Other times though, when asked to give, you just feel like you’re a hamster running around a plastic wheel, forced into giving.

Human nature is complex, even if we do have an inclination to give, what are the underlying reasons? Is it really to help someone in need? To gain some sort of notoriety? Or to make ourselves feel better?

Let’s look at Charles Dickens best-seller –  A Christmas Carol.

A Christmas Carol is a novella, probably the most popular piece of fiction that Charles Dickens ever wrote, which was published in 1843.

[image error]Old Scrooge embodies all the values that oppose the idea of Christmas; greed, selfishness, and a lack of goodwill toward his fellow man. This particular Christmas Eve, Scrooge’s sleep is disturbed by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. In a few short hours, the three ghosts reveal more to him about his true character than he ever realised.

Christmas day dawns and Scrooge is forced to confront the unpleasantness of his own existence. The lessons, apparent and plain, represent memory, generosity, empathy, and moral reckoning. His lack of concern for the ‘blue collar’ worker, is a sentiment to the indifference of the greedy, even today, was depicted by the Cratchit’s family dependence on his meager wage.

In a study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers found that people are more likely to give when they think it will make them feel better. They donate when they feel ‘hope’ about making others happy or putting smiles on eager faces. Did you know generosity lights up the same part of your brain that responds to food and sex? And that ‘hope’, or similar feel-good sensations, are driven by the brain’s reward systems.

Neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health demonstrated this in a study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology. The fMRI scans showed that giving is like “psychological chocolate.” When participants acted in an altruistic manner, they activated their brain’s orbitofrontal cortex, which assesses rewards.

Giving has been found to reduce stress, and produce the happy hormone – dopamine. You feel a sense of euphoria, sometimes known as ‘helpers delight’ which brings with it the sensation of energy and feeling stronger.

Most of us have this innate quality of kindness but along with it, we have self-perception. Let’s face it, we are all concerned with what other people think of us. If we give to a charity organisation; it makes you look good. You look responsible, accomplished and recognised. People choose to see themselves in certain ways, and they reinforce that identity through their ideals and experiences, social groups, and communities.

Christmas doesn’t have to be an exercise in capitalism – you can spend absolutely nothing, and STILL get the brownie points by giving genuinely.

A LITTLE BIT OF A HISTORY ON GIFT GIVING

Pagans gave presents at several winter festivals, including Saturnalia, a festival in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. It begins on Dec. 17 and usually lasts a week. Pagans would lift their spirits by drinking to excess and giving one another gifts. Gifts like pottery figurines, edible treats (fruit and nuts), and candles.

Today’s commercialised Christmas is steering away from the simplicity of old, encouraging believers to buy increasingly overpriced items by going into debt to pay it off.

So, let’s get back to the REAL spirit of Christmas and give from the heart not from the pocket. I compiled a list of ideas to keep it simple.

A Pre-owned book – one you have read
Have the kids or grandkids paint them a picture
A book of IOU’s could be a fun idea
origami
Write them a poem
Take them on an outing to a park
A 12 days of Christmas Quote notebook
Of course, you could cook jams, chutneys etc if you had abundant ingredients
Share your crop
Creatively use leftover soap cakes to make new soap cakes
And I’m sure you could come up with an outstretched arm’s length more

HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

 

 

An Interview With Mathias B. Freese

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Teacher and psychotherapist Mathias B. Freese holds masters degrees in secondary education and social work from Queens College of the City University of New York and Stony Brook University. His short fiction has appeared in Jewish Currents, Pig Iron Press, and Skywriters, among other magazines. His nonfiction articles have appeared in the New York Times, Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, and Publishers Marketing Association Newsletter. In 2005, the Society of Southwestern Authors honored him with a first-place award for personal essay/memoir.

Recently, I had the honour of chatting with Mathias B Freese

What is your writing Kryptonite?

I succumb to plot. It numbs me. It perplexes me. I can say with fervor that most of my work comes from aimless meandering until I find a path and I quickly get on it. Serendipity rules me.

  What are common traps for aspiring writers?

I can only speak for myself. I see a few writers I know obsess over making a buck. Can’t blame them. But it does get in the way when you start out thinking of your market rather than what contribution you can make to the writing world at large.

  Does a big ego help or hurt writers?

To write requires an ego of substance; it all comes down to the management of that conscious pulse. Follow the doctor’s wisdom – Do no harm.

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

I have gotten much from an editor friend, David Herrle – how to shape your book, how to place your chapters for maximum effect, how to cut chapters although you love them dearly, and so on. He is a poet of note as well, so we both share our respect for terseness and concision.

[image error]If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

A title of a chapter from my recent book says it all for me. Dive, delve, descend. And to continue as I am now, someone with considerable drive.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

Believe it or not, I write as if the other person is more a human being than a gender. I know something of men and women but much more about them as human beings.

What is your favourite childhood book?

ROBIN HOOD, I believe by Harold Lamb. It moved me deeply, emotionally, especially the death scene of Robin as he is bled to death “medically.” The book created empathy in me.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

I would never do that. I don’t play games.

How many hours a day do you write?

I have never followed a pattern. I write when it comes upon me. No pressure in that way. And there are no rules, believe me.

Tell us about your latest projects and where we can find them?

Since 2005 I have written a book every two years. In that is more of a personal achievement than as a writer. AND THEN I AM GONE may be my last effort. Who knows? I am 77.

Find and follow Mathias on his: website and on Facebook.

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A Date with C H Clepitt

I met this creative and effervescent author online. Her presence struck me right away and so did her book covers. I have provided links at the end of the interview, be sure to check out the artwork.

C H Clepitt is the author of a number of books and short stories, as well as being the Badger in charge of a satirical website called Newsnibbles. 

I asked her ten questions and here is C H Clepitt’s answers.

What is your writing Kryptonite?

Winter. The dark nights and dark mornings make me really tired. It’s all I can do to stay awake in the evenings, let alone motivated to write. I do my best to power through on cups of tea and enthusiasm, though!

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

I think spending too much time talking about writing and not enough time actually writing.  Your first draft will always be rubbish, everyone’s is. Having a first draft gives you something to edit and improve, so stop moaning about how bad it is and just get on and write it.  Also, don’t be afraid to take constructive criticism, or to ignore it. It’s your story.

Does a big ego help or hurt writers?

[image error]It does and it doesn’t. I think writers with a big ego do much better at marketing than us mere mortals, as they are brilliant at telling the world how wonderful they are. On the other hand, a massive ego struggles to accept criticism, which means that the writing is less likely to improve.  I’m sure those with an ego the size of Russia would argue their writing doesn’t need improvement, so that’s not really a problem for them anyway…

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

I have so many author friends. Real friends, even if some of us have never met, or we aren’t even in the same country. The indie community is so supportive.  We all help each other from beta reading each other’s work to cross-marketing.  We also try to come together on a weekly Twitter hour – #sparklybadgersunite – which is Monday at 9pm UK time, if you want to pop in and say hi.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Marketing is just as important as writing! I came to that realisation very late, and it cost me in my early work.  Still, live and learn.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

I find it very easy to write characters of any sex. I think I am quite empathic, and if you think of people as just people, and decide what their motivations are then you can create a solid character. I don’t write erotica, so no fear there!

What is your favourite childhood book?

101 Dalmatians. I still reread that sometimes.

Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Nope! My book is an open book! Or a closed book, depending on how you hold it… I always include a message, and I hope that most readers get that, but not all will.

How many hours a day do you write?[image error]

As many as I can. I usually have multiple projects on the burner, so if I’m struggling with one I move on to the next one, just keep plugging. That and marketing, don’t forget to market!

Tell us about your latest projects and where we can find them?

It’s been a busy year for me. I published Everything is Better with a Cape, the Second Part to I Wore Heels to the Apocalypse, Lineage: A Beginning and Lineage: Of Blood. I am also dipping my toe into the audiobook pool, with Lineage: A Beginning due out very soon, and I Wore Heels to the Apocalypse and A Blessing in Disguise due out in the New Year.

“Cape” is a superhero spoof. It develops the characters from “Heels” and takes them on a new journey. If you enjoy sarcastic British humour, diverse characters and talking badgers, maybe give it a go, it’s just super!

Lineage is a series of vampire shorts.  I am excited to have found an audio producer who is very enthusiastic about the series, so we should be working on it together, which will keep me motivated.

A Blessing in Disguise is a gentle short story with humour and hope. Something for a nice quiet Sunday afternoon.

You can find all of my books by searching C H Clepitt on Amazon or message me on Facebook or Twitter. I am on Goodreads and Pinterest.  Stop by and say hello!

BLOOMIN’ AMAZING

Have you ever noticed how bringing fresh colourful flowers into your space can instantly change your attitude? The inflow of refreshment is energising and welcoming. The smell is fragrant and sweet and the whole area brightens the room somewhat. It’s almost like there is magic in the air.

Spring is here and its time for new beginnings so dust off your hat and head outside to smell the freshness.

Farmers and gardeners plant seeds bringing the earth to life, animals awake from slumber (if you live in the Northern hemisphere) and baby animals are born, and in your local region, fresh buds of love and romance begin to bloom. 

And most importantly for creatives, saplings of ideas begin to form emerging from the [image error]recesses of your productive and driven mind.

Spring has always been known as a time of new beginnings and birth. So it’s the perfect season to tap into your creativity and grow. The shift in your energy has begun. No more rest and recuperation is needed for winter is over!

The rhythm of life cycles through the seasons transforming us into individuals of evolution. Our desires, behaviour, thoughts, and needs change as we grow in self-knowledge and experience. This transition is part of being human. It’s inevitable.

As humans, we have emotional needs that require attention throughout all the years of our lives. Interestingly, neuroscience has linked the four seasons to our internal dynamic energy.

The Four Seasons of Transformation

Summer: A season of rewards, celebration, and fulfillment.
Autumn: A season for survival, mistakes, and problems.
Winter: A season for reflection, hibernation, and planning.
Spring: A season for learning, opportunity and dynamic thinking.

 

[image error]Just as the earth is flexing its creativity in vibrant colours, patterns, and abundance so can you. Energy is contagious making now the perfect time to jump head first into that new project or breath life into that stagnant one of seasons passed. This spring develop new skills and enhance old ones. Meet new people, alter your mindset, expand your knowledge, create opportunities. Feel love, happiness, appreciation and be confident.

THE SPRING TIME OF LIFE CREATIVITY – A POEM BY ERHARD HANS JOSEF LANG

A spring time of life creativity

Long before us

There once had been –

This is from where we humans, too, are derived –

The Merman and the Nymph within the waters –

Universal Fluidum –

These are our origin, our kinship most intimate! –

And First Man, first to see sun’s light on earth

Nourished by the saps through a hole-black Vulva,

Embossed into secret earth retreats,

Centrifugally centripetally

fertilizing,

Would have certainly had, you’d bet,

His visions

Set in tune with the unembodied premium

Young & sportive Cosmic Couple’s dream creation world

That had parented Him in Her,

God all around,

Very accurately –

So many funny, strangely physical, quirky

Animal gook & geek heads to be

Visualized in dreamy mindscapes of sudden inspiration then,

Out of which grand seeing in

Gay times of Spring seasons, and a

Veritable peak time in young Nature come alive,

It holds that

The abounding nature spirits possessed of

Ever stronger body dreams naturally are

Pressing for the creation of

Themselves in Earth’s solid matters,

All these selfsame animals, first seen in hazy dreams,

Now suddenly hopping around in flesh and horned,

Out there, beyond the loam –

The grand stage enactionment

Orchestrated through alignment of webs from

Threads spun in Cosmic Mind with the lively motions on

The planetary seed of our globe, the

Furtive spur for the earth seed to germinate,

Seconded and carried on further in First Man’s visionary faces –

The earthen destillary’s utensils handled

Through Her various moods of global tempests

And Her lighter weather tempers,

And Their means of fine-tuning the ladling storms cross- & directionwise,

On this our so revolutionary globe,

Destined to be focused on by real-time Gods in the making,

For the act of

A mysterious Creation’s high-spirited,

Cosmodreamvision-empowered encapsulization into divinely

Potent magic seeds of ever more & more variegated new forms and

Figures of Life frolicking, all of which eventually

Chance to be mixed up, boiled and

Served out in seed form by

The adventurously playful cosmic visionaire’s

Quickening arm of reproduction

In some deep-bottomed vaginal cups

On the rock of earth, during the festival of this

God’s world arena’s grand self-enhancement, with all

The happy-go-lucky planet’s earth spirits concentrated and

Gathered in for a most favourably weathered

Spring time season of (r) evolutionary creation –

All spiced up ingredients of lively matter red-hot with

Most vibrant energy.

A season, surpassed since long by

Another era of actions on the globe,

The ones before us and the present one,

That but until this very day, though

Not any longer bent on diversifying seed creativity –

(With our human demigods taken over the command

Rather to the contrary as of now) –

Reverberates still so wondrous

Through high and low of the earth planet’s go.

Erhard Hans Josef Lang
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And Then I Am Gone: A Walk with Thoreau

[image error]Book info:

Title: And Then I Am Gone: A Walk with Thoreau

Author: Mathias B. Freese

Genre: Non-Fiction – Memoir/Biography

Formats: Paperback & eBook

Published by: Wheatmark

ISBN-13: 978-1627875387

Pub. Date: September 21, 2017

Number of pages: 117

Content Warning: N/A

Purchase at: Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk and Barnes&Noble.com

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Author Bio: MATHIAS B. FREESE is a multi-published, award-winning author, writer, teacher and psychotherapist.

Book Awards:

The i Tetralogy: Allbooks Review Editor’s Choice Award 2007
Down to a Sunless Sea: National Indie Excellence finalist Book Awards 2007 &
Allbooks Reviews Editor’s Choice Award 2007.
This Mobius Strip of Ifs: National Indie (Winner) Book Awards, 2012 & Global Ebook Award finalist, 2012.
I Truly Lament: Working Through the Holocaust: Finalist in the 2012 Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest out of 424 submissions, Beverly Hills Book Awards, Winner;
Readers’ Favorites, Five Stars; Indie Excellence Book Awards, Finalist; Readers’
Favorite, Book Award Winner – Bronze medal
Tesserae: A Memoir of Two Summers: 2016 Los Angeles Book Festival Honorable Mention, Great Northwest Book Festival Winner in Biography/Autobiography
Category, Runner-up in General Non-Fiction Category in the San Francisco Book Festival, Winner for General Non-Fiction in The Beach Book Festival & Runner-Up in General Non-Fiction in the Paris Book Festival

Book Synopsis: And Then I Am Gone: A Walk with Thoreau tells the story of a New York City man who becomes an Alabama man. Despite his radical migration to simpler living and a late-life marriage to a saint of sorts, his persistent pet anxieties and unanswerable questions follow him. Mathias Freese wants his retreat from the societal “it” to be a brave safari for the self rather than cowardly avoidance, so who better to guide him but Henry David Thoreau, the self-aware philosopher who retreated to Walden Pond “to live deliberately” and cease “the hurry and waste of life”? In this memoir, Freese wishes to share how and why he came to Harvest, Alabama (both literally and figuratively), to impart his existential impressions and concerns, and to leave his mark before he is gone.

Find and follow Mathias on his: website and on Facebook.