Ceri Clark's Blog, page 200
April 10, 2011
The Night Watchman Express by Alison DeLuca
I enjoyed this one!
As an independent author, I am eager to help and read other indie authors. I set up a Fantasy Kindle Book Group on Kindle on Amazon discussions and also belong to the ABNA Writers Group on Facebook.
Now I've read quite a few books over the months and I came across some books which, ahem, I was very disappointed with but Allison DeLuca's book is most definitely NOT in that category.
The Night Watchman Express kept me interested throughout the book. This is the book that doubters of Indie publishing should read, it shows that there are Indie books which can be and are of a high quality. In fact better than some main stream books I've read!
What is it about? Well it's a historical fantasy but not the sword and sorcery variety. It is what I would call more of a realistic fantasy.
The main character is an heiress whose life is turned upside down when her guardians come to stay. Relegated to the attic, while her new 'aunt' and 'uncle' enjoy the trimmings her inheritance pays for, a governess suddenly appears who tames the wild creature the girl has become in her grief. The guardians have an important project which depends on a hidden device. This project has repercussions for not only the girl and their family but also a mysterious island.
The book poses a few questions, which are all (satisfactorily) explained through the book. Who is the Governess? Where did she come from? What is the device the guardians are looking for? What is the project?
The book is extremely well written and I truly cared about the characters. The fact I glared at my husband when he stopped me reading to get my attention says it all. When you read this book you will be drawn into a story that will melt reality away.
Go on buy it, you know you want to!
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News from Fantasy Island Publishing
Fantasy Island publishing is going from strength to strength with new authors and more sales.
Connie J. Jasperson's book "The Last Great Knight" has been received well and grows readership daily. Compared to the great Wilbur Smith in her action and bawdy prose, she will be one of the great writers of fictional adventures to come.
The Last Good Knight
Connie J. Jasperson
Alison DeLuca's new book "The Night Watchman Express" is soaring up the Amazon Kindle sales ranking and is a promising series to look forward to in the future.
The Night Watchman Express
Alison DeLuca
J. Darroll Hall and his Fantasy Island Book Publishing brand are topping Amazon sales rankings all over the Kindle book rankings. The brands bookshelves and catalog are on fire at the moment.
http://www.fantasyislandbookpublishing.com
Well I'm not going to write a blog post and not plug my book! 
:
Children of the Elementi special edition
Ceri Clark
THE KING OF EGYPT: Special edition.
www.amazon.com
Raised a warrior, Tigris, crowned Nitiqreti, is the first female pharaoh. With a beauty that can bring men to their knees and a power that reaps respect from an army, she is prepared to take on any enemy. Author J.J. Makins has written a fascinating look at one of the most beautiful and unknown rulers of Egypt.
Whatever Became of the Squishies
Claire Chilton, a vibrant new voice at Fantasy Island Book Publishing, has written a funny, exciting book. Anyone who enjoys Harry Potter will love the Squishies.www.wbots.co.uk says: Super powers, near death experiences and breaking all the rules. Well what would you do if you were the only purple girl in the world?
Miranda Warning
www.amazon.com
Why is someone killing the band geeks of Richland, Texas? Miranda Beeling would like to know since she is one of them.
Author Marilyn Rucker Norrod certainly knows her subject. A musician and an attorney, she has taken that background and spun a wonderful book with great characters and lots of humor as well as intrigue.
Author Julianne Carlile has written a funny, touching story about hunting from the point of view of the little red hound.
Shattered Seeds: Sofia's Story
Clu Gallagher has written a great story for anyone who enjoys action, adventure, and quilting! Shattered Seeds is a voyage of discovery for an adopted child whose search for her roots takes her to WWII and Vietnam.
All of these books are available on Kindle and Nook, as well as for reading on any wireless device with a free Kindle / Nook download or app. Check out the complete Amazon catalogue at :
April 3, 2011
A Simpler Guide to the best free Android Apps: 100+ apps to inform, entertain and organise (now on Kindle)
Finding useful apps on the marketplace can be daunting. A Simpler Guide to the best free Android Apps is not just a list of over a hundred free Android Apps but contains summaries and a rating system which helps you decide whether you want to download an application or not.
The book covers information on security, how to find more apps and discusses permissions. Each app has either a 0, red or green permissions rating based on the risk level of the permission requested. This means you can see at a glance what the 'risk' is and get a feel for what is normal for a particular type of app. These permissions are explained at the beginning of the book to help in any future search in the ever expanding marketplace.
A special section 'For Children' contains apps especially suited for younger android users.
This book includes:
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
How to use this Guide
Rating Systems in this book
Star Rating
Permissions
What are the permissions?
A note about Security
Finding Apps
Apps
Games
My apps
Other ways to search for Apps
AppBrain.com
AndroidZoom.com
PART TWO: APP CATEGORIES
Browsers
Business
Communication
Education
Entertainment
Finance
For Children
Lifestyle
Security
Tools
Travel
Alphabetical list of Apps
A Simpler Guide to the best free Android Apps at Amazon US
A Simpler Guide to the best free Android Apps at Amazon UK
March 31, 2011
How not to respond to a review / Rebecca Black / Libya/ Japan/Ceri Clark/ Connie J. Jasperson/ J. J. Makins/ J. Darroll Hall/ Alison DeLuca/ Claire Chilton/ Marilyn Rucker Norrod/ Clu Gallagher/ Julianne Carlisle/
How not to respond to a Review
The internet was abuzz with how not to respond to a review this week. An author had submitted her book to a reviewer and took exception to what the reviewer said. Now I don't condone what the author did. It did seem very unprofessional to me but I don't know what is happening in her private life. She just seemed to have lost it.
The thing with reviews in my limited experience is that people either get your story or they don't. This can be for a number of reasons, they may not like the genre, the writing style may turn them off or they may even be in the wrong age group. You have to take the good with the bad and concentrate on the people that like your work. After all, you wrote your story for them! I wrote Children of the Elementi specifically for some younger teenagers I knew. They are my target audience. If adults like it fantastic, if they don't? That is also fine, there are others who will like it. Besides if I got 4 and 5 stars all the time, people would thing I was writing the reviews! My advice to other writers, go with the flow…
If you want to see post that caused all the ruckus, go here: http://booksandpals.blogspot.com/2011/03/greek-seaman-jacqueline-howett.html
Rebecca Black
I won't say I am a big fan, in fact I thought the Fridays song was hilarious when I first heard it. I was a little startled by the age of the driver, but hey I thought what do I know about the legal driving age in the US? 
Still, bad but catchy song aside, I thought the comments under the YouTube clip were uncalled for. There is simply no need to say those things. People have feelings. The posters may have been anonymous but Rebecca is not. She will have the last laugh though. The amount she has sold and the plethora of parody videos mean that she will stay famous for that little bit longer than she may have otherwise expected.
Libya
I have mixed feelings about Libya. I obviously don't agree with dictatorships and something had to be done but there is just too much war. I really hope that the conflict will have a speedy resolution soon with a minimum of collateral damage. I hate that word, but we all know what it means.
Japan
Things took a turn for the worse recently, with some radioactive material leaking on to the concrete floor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. This is really scary stuff. I was reassured by a news programme which mentioned that the particular type of radiation that had spilled previously had a half life of just days. I just hope that the new radioactive leak has a similar longevity. I really feel for those plant workers in the situation they are in and I believe they are heroes.
News from Fantasy Island Publishing
Connie J. Jasperson's new book "The Last Great Knight" has been received well and grows readership daily. Compared to the great Wilbur Smith in her action and bawdy prose, she will be one of the great writers of fictional adventures to come.
The Last Good Knight
Connie J. Jasperson
Alison DeLuca's new book "The night watchman express" is soaring up the Amazon Kindle sales ranking and is a promising series to look forward to in the future.
The Night Watchman Express
Alison DeLuca
J. Darroll Hall and his Fantasy Island Book Publishing brand are topping Amazon sales rankings all over the Kindle book rankings. The brands bookshelves and catalog are on fire at the moment.
http://www.fantasyislandbookpublishing.com
Located in Wales in the UK, author Ceri Clark has the children and young adult market abuzz with her fantasy series "Children of the Elementi!" This book series is and will become the new "Potter" the entire world will fall in love with. This book series is profound, important, and masterfully written. Learn the name Ceri Clark; it will be a household name in a short time.
Children of the Elementi special edition
Ceri Clark
THE KING OF EGYPT: Special edition.
www.amazon.com
Raised a warrior, Tigris, crowned Nitiqreti, is the first female pharaoh. With a beauty that can bring men to their knees and a power that reaps respect from an army, she is prepared to take on any enemy. Author J.J. Makins has written a fascinating look at one of the most beautiful and unknown rulers of Egypt.
Whatever Became of the Squishies
Claire Chilton, a vibrant new voice at Fantasy Island Book Publishing, has written a funny, exciting book. Anyone who enjoys Harry Potter will love the Squishies.www.wbots.co.uk says: Super powers, near death experiences and breaking all the rules. Well what would you do if you were the only purple girl in the world?
Miranda Warning
www.amazon.com
Why is someone killing the band geeks of Richland, Texas? Miranda Beeling would like to know since she is one of them.
Author Marilyn Rucker Norrod certainly knows her subject. A musician and an attorney, she has taken that background and spun a wonderful book with great characters and lots of humor as well as intrigue.
Author Julianne Carlile has written a funny, touching story about hunting from the point of view of the little red hound.
Shattered Seeds: Sofia's Story
Clu Gallagher has written a great story for anyone who enjoys action, adventure, and quilting! Shattered Seeds is a voyage of discovery for an adopted child whose search for her roots takes her to WWII and Vietnam.
All of these books are available on Kindle and Nook, as well as for reading on any wireless device with a free Kindle / Nook download or app. Check out the complete Amazon catalogue at :
March 27, 2011
Earthquake/ Tsunami/ nuclear fallout/ Connie J. Jasperson/ J. Darroll Hall/ Alison DeLuca/ J. J. Makins/ #1 bestseller/
The earthquake, tsunami and problems with the nuclear power plant has put Japan in my thoughts lately. It really makes me think nuclear power is a fool's way to get power. In this day and age surely we can harness the energy of the sun, wind and sea to power our lives? It might cost money and time but it would be worth it. Sure nuclear power is cheap, but then so is life when an area is 'infected' with radiation.
There are supposed to be so many fail-safes to stop eactors going wrong but there is always the unexpected – after all that is what the earthquake was or at least the magnitude of it.
News from Fantasy Island Publishing
http://wwwfantasyislandbookpublishing...
Connie J. Jasperson's new book "The Last Good Knight" has been received well and grows readership daily. Compared to the great Wilbur Smith in her action and bawdy prose, she will be one of the great writers of fictional adventures to come. http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Good-K...
Alison DeLuca's new book "The night watchman express" is soaring up the Amazon Kindle sales ranking and is a promising series to look forward to in the future. http://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Watch...
J. Darroll Hall and his Fantasy Island Book Publishing brand is topping Amazon sales rankings all over the Kindle book rankings. The brands bookshelves and catalog are on fire at the moment. http://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Watch... http://www.fantasyislandbookpublishin...
J. J. Makins has joined with her breakout book "The King of Egypt" is a breathtaking visual experience in all aspects of a literary work. Art, beauty, visually capturing, a must have on your bookshelf, if any written work can be prized this book is exactly that. Coming to Amazon Kindle March 12th 2011 "THE KING OF EGYPT" A NOVEL BY J. J. MAKINS A Fantasy Island Book Publishing special edition! Six number one bestselling books in only 12 months on Amazon Kindle: check our catalog for your favorite genre, it is growing daily. #1 bestsellers in: Thriller, mystery, stocks and financial, cooking& food, exotic cuisine, comedy &parody, and horror. http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=129974138...? ie=UTF8&keywords=J darroll Hall&rh=n:133140011,n:!133141011,k:J darroll Hall&page=1
Sequel to Children of the Elementi
After having some feedback from my target readers, I have sat down and put together the plot for the next book in the Elementi series. This one is based on Shenella as she appears to be everyone's favourite Elementi character!
Who is your favourite character?
Children of the Elementi FAQ
Children of the Elementi
Children of the Elementi is a quick, fast paced read but it is peppered with information which you might just skip if you read it too fast! Here are a few frequently asked questions from the book.
How did Jake survive if his mum was only six months pregnant at the massacre?
Jake's mum, Nuin, was with the Healer, Kiron. Their medical knowledge and skills are far better than our own.
What is the Matrix?
The Matrix is a planet-wide crystalline mind. Nothing to do with the Keanu Reeves film!
The Matrix in our world has several meanings, in its oldest form it means the womb and in the story it represents the source of the Elementi powers. In a sense without the Matrix, their powers would not have developed at all. Other definitions (courtesy of Dictionary.com) include a crystalline phase in an alloy or a fine-grained portion of a rock in which coarser crystals are embedded.
The Matrix in Eleria is alive. It is the culmination of combined crystals through the world, taking power from everything but it's intelligence from humans. In return it has given powers to the humans it has bonded with.
How do the teenagers know how to connect to the Matrix?
When Mirim talks to Keira after the volcano she explains that each heir was connected to the Matrix before they left Eleria. The knowledge was always there, they just couldn't access it. However because it was there, once they reconnected it became instinctive.
Why is color spelt wrong?
It's not, it's how we Brits spell it!
What is Adramelech?
Adramelech is a Deoc. A race of people made completely from fire. A pure Elemental, he is estranged from his people because of his predilection for power and enslaving vulnerable civilisations. Before Aras called him, he was imprisoned in no-space with no way of getting home.
Aras? Who is he?
He is a descendant of Jake's father and has the abilities of both peoples. Unfortunately the two powers are not compatible and Aras is slowly dying. He needs to kill Jake and find the ancient Citadel to survive.
Who is the Fire King?
I'm not telling you. You have to read it to find out!
Is there a sequel?
There is one planned, it just needs writing!
