Elizabeth Marx's Blog, page 11

Wednesday Walking Tour: Buckingham Fountain

I thought since I’m a Windy City writer I’d start a Wednesday walking tour. Each week I’ll do my best to show you a Chicago landmark or maybe some hidden gem that only those of us lucky enough to call Chicago home would know about.
This week I’ll start with a place that draws many tourists, it’s located in Grant Park and only one of the many open spaces along Lake Michigan. Many people don’t know that after the great fire in 1871 and the 1893 World’s Columbia Exposition, Chicago was a planned city. The Burham Plan was enacted in 1909 that allowed for wider streets, new railways, harbor facilities and civic buildings and because of the success of the world’s fair many ideas were presented for improving and preserving Chicago's lakefront.
Buckingham Fountain is a Chicagolandmark at the edge of Grant Park. Dedicated in 1927, it is one of the largest fountains in the world. Built in a rococo wedding cake style and inspired by the Latona Fountain at the Palace of Versailles, it is meant to allegorically represent Lake Michigan. The fountain itself represents Lake Michigan, with each sea horse symbolizing the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michiganand Indiana, that border the lake.
The fountain was designed by beaux arts architect Edward H. Bennett. The statues were created by the French sculptor Marcel F. Loyau. The fountain was donated to the city by Kate Buckingham in memory of her brother, Clarence Buckingham and its official name is the Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain.
It operates from April to October, with regular water shows and evening color-light shows. During the winter, the fountain is decorated with festival lights. I’ve seen Latona Fountain and Buckingham is more beautiful probably because of the Georgia pink marble that really stands out in the sunshine against the blue skyline and water. If you visit make sure you check out the water show, every hour on the hour from now to the middle of October.
You can check out another picture of it on my new FB Timeline banner: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elizabeth-Marx/294710950557778

BINDING ARBITRATION

BEST EBOOK READER

Through the corridors of the Windy City’s criminal courts, single mother, Libby Tucker, doesn’t wonder how far she’s willing to go to save her son’s life from cancer. The undefeated defense attorney knows she’ll take her case all the way to the majors.
Libby pleads her case at the cleats of celebrity baseball player, Banford Aidan Palowski, the man who discarded her at college graduation, begging him to live up to his biological duty. Libby’s worked her backside bare for everything she’s attained, while Band-Aid has been indulged since he slid through the birth canal and landed in a pile of Gold Coast money. But helping her might jeopardize the only thing the jock worships: his baseball career.
If baseball imitates life, Aidan admits his appears to be silver-plated peanuts, until, an unexpected confrontation with the most spectacular prize that’s ever poured from a caramel corn box blindsides him. Libby reveals his son desperately needs him and it pricks open the wound he’s carried since he abandoned her.
All Libby wants is a little anonymous DNA, but Band-Aid has a magical umpire in his head who knows Libby’s a fateball right to the heart. When a six-year-old sage, and a hippy priestess step onto the field there’s more to settle between Libby and Aidan then heartache, redemption, and forgiveness.

To Breathe the Breath of Isis

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To breathe the breath of Isis is to be reborn.
An Egyptian necklace disassembled because of the danger it posesto anyone who wears it. Its pieces scattered across the pages of time like sandacross the desert.
One woman destined to wear it . . . until it chokes the lifefrom her.

Friggatriskaidekaphobia

 
Friggatriskaidekaphobia
Ever suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia? Me neither, but friggatriskaidekaphobia is a fear of Friday the 13th. Frigga is the name of the Norse goddessfor whom "Friday" is named and triskaidekaphobiameaning fear of the number thirteen.Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20thcentury, when it became common. So why do people think Friday the 13this a fateful day? It’s probably the combination of two older superstitions:thirteen is and unlucky number and Friday is an unlucky day.

In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number ofcompleteness, the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock,twelve gods of Olympus, twelve Apostles, etc. Whereas thenumber thirteen was considered irregular, breaking this rule of completeness.Another superstition, thought by some to derive from a Norse myth is that having thirteen people seated at atable will result in the death of one of the diners.

So here’s thething, my birthday is on the 13th, though not on a Friday. I’vealways considered 13 my lucky number because I was born at 13:13 p.m., the 13thhour and the 13th minute of the 13th day. I also havefive brothers and sisters who were all born on the 13th   day of their birth months. So the 13th seemslike a very blessed number to me.What’s your luckynumber and are you superstitious about it? And more importantly, do you sufferfrom friggatriskaidekaphobia???

Twitter, Tweet, and Twit-Twat

Twitter, Tweet and Twit-twatIn this maddening world of author self-promotion something funny happened to me and I had to share the experience with you. If you are easily offended STOP READING NOW! NO keep reading, I'll keep this PG-13.I'm a writer and I use a pen name, and no, I didn't pull the name out of thin air. I strategically picked the name based on several factors. After much thought, I decided on Elizabeth Marx. Now I didn't go into this with blinders on, I searched for other authors with this name. I searched yahoo. What I didn't do was explore Google, only the biggest search engine in the world.  A complete knuckle brained thing to miss, no scratch that--let's call it a knocker-brained thing to do. You'll understand why in a few paragraphs.I downloaded my books at Amazon and B & N and all the various places Indie authors seek readers. A couple of days later my husband took me to lunch to celebrate this momentous achievement. During the course of our conversation he asked in a nonchalant tone, "Have you searched your name on Google?" "No," I replied. "Why?"My husband raised his menu to hide his expression, when I pulled the menu down he was beet red, so I asked again "What happens when you do?"My husband now used the menu to muffle his response, "Play date center field." "What the heck does baseball have to do with anything?""No," he said, "I said, playmate centerfold." He cautiously eyed the other patrons, as if wondering if I was going to go all Exorcist on him, spinning my head and spewing irate words like rancid vomit.I had no other choice but to chuckle. I mean, it's my own fault I didn't search the largest search engine in the known universe. So I shrugged and asked, "What does she look like?"He was beet-red from the top of his widow's peak to the bottom edge of his goatee."That perky, huh?" I laughed again.I went to my office and Googled my pen name and what came up in the results was a bodacious red head with a gorgeous rack. She's twenty-five and she should possess a fabulous rack right? This is America and if she wants to reveal said rack to the world for profit well it's her prerogative and the American way. I chuckled until the giggles took hold of me, and then I planned in secret that one day I'd make my Elizabeth Marx even more famous than hers. We all know books are way more important than boobs, right?Fast forward a few months. My website is going live and I had to join Twitter so I could have the little bird listed on all my pages. I'm not a big tell-everybody-what-you're-thinking-all-of-the-time kind of gal but I understand how the web is actually a web and everything has to be connected to everything else. Of course, as you can imagine, my name, Elizabeth Marx wasn't available. Of course not, probably because she had taken it!  And because elizabethmarxbooks is too long, I settled on emarxbooks@twitter.com. I didn't tweet a single word after setting up the account, but my phone started chiming right away and I checked my email and I had about 20 followers on twitter. I thought, holy crow this Twitter thing is incredible, cause I haven't told anyone. How'd they find me? The next morning I had 23 more followers, so I flew over to twitter to check out the phenomenon. I opened the profile of my first follower and her name was Kandi. Kandi, the name alone should've been the tip-off, but Kandi was a young woman who would be in the demographic of my young adult book All's Fair in Vanity's War and she looked like a high-schooler dressed in a private school uniform. I clicked on her picture and as it enlarged the first thing I thought was, why is Kandi's sweater up around her navel? (I'm the mother of three daughters and none of them are going to school or anywhere else like that!) I thought why is Kandi wearing thigh high hose with lace edging? I thought, Oh My GOD, when I read Kandi's web address: www.hotcollegecheerleaderorgy.com  (I'd love to see how many of you've clicked on this, but for the record, I mashed up a couple of different web addresses of the candy girls, but I'll admit, it was difficult to find a website that didn't actually work!)I continued scrolling through the list of names. I burst out laughing because Andi, Judi, Juli, Mandi, Ricki, Suzi, and every other female name ending in an I that you can imagine was waiting for me to say something profound with only 140 characters. Then there was a Levinia, why Levinia hadn't changed her name to Levi, or Ninni, I had no idea, maybe she didn't get the monthly Porn Goddess Newsletter with the cover article: Porn Names for Profit. I went through their website addresses too and for the most part they ran from funny to vulgar, but mostly vulgar. But then I started wondering, why would they want to follow me? The thought hit me like a lightning bolt, emarxbooks@twitter.com is awfully close to emarxboobs@twitter.com I mean the difference between the "k" and the "b" in the minds of these babes is minute. But to make matters worse, among these 7 lovely coeds they had over a 1038 followers and were following 1919 people, but the best part was the number of tweets: 17! I'll do the math for you, 2.43 tweets each. They are no longer teaching spelling and writing in college, just how to market yourself on Twitter with 140 characters or less!Granted, I was using Twitter for marketing too, but I was selling books not boobs. And books are more important than boobs, right? It could all be a coincidence, but it's certainly funny that the God's of advertising had gotten a hold of me.If you're wondering what twit-twat is, pull your brain out of the gutter I just submerged it in. Urban Dictionary defines twit-twat as those who use twitter in every aspect of their lives, endlessly spamming you until you snap and do something horrific to them.I know most of you, and hits on emarxboobs@twitter.com skyrocketed! But you can follow me on twitter at emarxbooks@twitter.comHappy Reading,Elizabeth Marx

FREE EBOOK

Looking for a short read??? Try this for free.
Okay, let's start out by saying this book is a compendium, not a novel. I had no idea what a compendium was until my good friend Merriam Webster informed me. Compendium: 1) a brief summary of a larger work or of a field of knowledge; 2) A collection or compilation.This is all the ExtraOrdinary knowledge I've collected and written down in the little black book Ilithyia gave me as a death-day present. The same night she gave me the spiel about the important purpose I'd serve as The Seer. I have more questions about the Order than I have answers for, but I've decided to serve my higher purpose by constructing this encyclopedia for the Ordinary world. The Seer's 7 Deadly Fairy Tales also includes a truthful account of what happened to me, and a peek into what transpired while Locke and I were sent away to Blessingston. It's full of definitions, cool illustrations, and the first of seven fairy tales that will be told over the course of the series. If you're dying to know what goes on behind the veil of secrecy Salem is shrouded in, feel free to read this compendium. But beware, the Order has one rule about recording ExtraOrdinary events--it's strictly forbidden. So just to be on the safe side, you might want to destroy this after reading it.But don't worry about me getting in trouble, I'm already dead! The SeerVisit me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheSeers7DeadlyFairyTales
Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007JV5F58Barnes and Noble:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-seers-7-deadly-fairy-tales-a-compendium-y-a-urban-fantasy-elizabeth-marx/1109517572?ean=2940014307864&itm=5&usri=elizabeth+marx

WEBSITE UP AND RUNNING

Stop by and check out my website, it's up and running. Make sure you join my mailing list.
Thanks, Elizabeth

HOP ON THE BLOG TOUR FOR BINDING ARBITRATION

 Through the corridors of the Windy City's criminalcourts, single mother, Libby Tucker, doesn't wonder how far she's willing to goto save her son's life from cancer. The undefeated defense attorney knowsshe'll take her case all the way to the majors.Libby pleads her case at the cleats of celebritybaseball player, Banford Aidan Palowski, the man who discarded her at collegegraduation, begging him to live up to his biological duty. Libby's worked herbackside bare for everything she's attained, while Band-Aid has been indulgedsince he slid through the birth canal and landed in a pile of Gold Coast money.But helping her might jeopardize the only thing the jock worships: his baseballcareer.If baseball imitates life, Aidan admits his appearsto be silver-plated peanuts, until, an unexpected confrontation with the mostspectacular prize that's ever poured from a caramel corn box blindsides him.Libby reveals his son desperately needs him and it pricks open the wound he'scarried since he abandoned her.All Libby wants is a little anonymous DNA, butBand-Aid has a magical umpire in his head who knows Libby's a fateball right tothe heart. When a six-year-old sage, and a hippy priestess step onto the fieldthere's more to settle between Libby and Aidan then heartache, redemption, andforgiveness. March 12- Chick Lit Goddess- Review
March 15- The Hungry Bibliophile- Novel Spotlight
March 17- Handcuff Betty- Review

March 18- The Autumn Review- Guest Post
March 19- Turning the Pages- Review
March 20- Storm Goddess Book Reviews- Review
March 23- Chick Lit Plus- Review
March 24- Hannah Shelton- Review
March 27- Chick Lit Plus- Q&A
March 28- Madsheep Reading- Review
March 30- Jersey Girl Book Reviews- Review & Guest Post
March 31- My Life, My Randomness- Novel Spotlight
April 1- Lost in Literature- Review
April 2- East Village- Review

FREE EBOOK FRIDAY

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To breathe the breath of Isis is to be reborn.
An Egyptian necklace disassembled because of the danger it poses to the queen who wears it. Its pieces scattered across the pages of time, like sand across the desert.
One woman destined to wear it over and over again . . .

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WORDS WRITTEN, MEMORIES MADE

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To breathethe breath of Isis is to be reborn.
Words whispered in Marguerite's ear on her thirteenth birthday,as her father wraps her fingers around the nefret. But the Egyptian necklacepiece, so easily concealed in the palm of her hand, bears a curse for any whowear it, and an undeniable allure for all those who see it.
Years later, Marguerite is a victim of a vicious attack. Theresulting brain damage causes amnesia and the photographer's memories are meresnapshots: a little girl with a piece of hammered silver jewelry, an angry manwith a disdainful sneer, a sand-swept swashbuckler who takes her breath away,fire and blood melded together, and the wings of Isis trying to carry her away.
When she inexplicably appears in a tomb in Thebes, Marguerite insistsshe was coming to see Robert. Disorientated, destitute, and alone, she sensesthe necklace piece has led her to a time and place of its choosing.
Lord Robert Bruton, eminent Egyptologist, and possible King'sspy, has staked his career on finding the final resting place of an eighteenthdynasty queen. But he has never discovered anything quite as alluring as theyoung woman he recovers unconscious in a tomb on his firham. He wonders why themesmerizing young woman possesses a piece of jewelry belonging to Queen Tiye.Is she a tomb robber? An American spy? Or a madwoman spouting fantasticalstories about aeroplanes traversing the Atlantic.
Or is she the treasurehe has been seeking his entire life?