Doug Dillon's Blog, page 151

Great Book! Loved Learning About St. Augustine While Reading Fiction

Sliding Beneath the Surface

Sliding Beneath the Surface

The St. Augustine Trilogy:

Book I

Young Adult, Paranormal & Historical

A review placed on Amazon by Tia Borstelman

Doug Dillon takes readers on a journey through historic St. Augustine, while entertaining them with an excellently written science fiction plot. This is a must read for teens, especially those who reside in Florida.

To see this review on Amazon, click here.

 

 

“A Story About History, the Paranormal, and Human Growth.”

Sliding Beneath the Surface

The St. Augustine Trilogy:

Book I

Young Adult, Paranormal & Historical

A review placed on Amazon by Teacheramy

The book, “Sliding Beneath the Surface” is on the surface, a book about the paranormal and the history of a battle fought in St. Augustine, Florida. However, one of the main themes of the book is human growth.

The main character, Jeff Golden, is a typical, angry teen boy that uses his defenses to keep people at a distance and ignore his feelings.

When he begins to have horrible nightmares, he must turn to the one person he is vulnerable with, Carla Rodriguez. She takes him to see a Native American spiritual healer that puts into play a series of events that will eventually lead Jeff into a long ago fought battle with his great, great, great, great, great grandfather!

Throughout the book, Jeff comes to a greater understanding of himself and the world around him. I truly enjoyed reading this book and found it to be an easy, but intriguing read.

As an eighth grade teacher for over 15 years, I feel that teenagers from all backgrounds would identify with the main characters and be held captive by the adventures of Jeff and Carla.

I am passing the book on to my 76-year old mother, who I think will enjoy the read, as well!

To see this review on Amazon, click here.

Paranormal Trilogy’s Street Team

The ghostly tales of  my supernatural, young adult book series  are getting superhuman support from a lot of people these days.

Julia Hendrix

My assistant, Julia Hendrix, is increasing the size of her street team as part of this effort. These wonderful folks are readers of young adult and paranormal books who are interested in helping promote The St. Augustine Trilogy, especially now that Book II, Stepping Off a Cliff is getting close to publication. 

We can always use more members of our street team so don’t hesitate to contact Julia. Click here  for her blog , As You Wish Tours, for active links and  to get registered if you are interested.  I’ve copied the text from her recent call for action below and included some pictures. But you will have to go to her blog site to contact her. Here’s her post:

Sign Up for the #TeamStAugustine Street Team

Do you want to join the most amazing paranormal street team? If so, now is the time! We are recruiting members to be part of Doug Dillon’s Street Team and help spread the word about Team St. Augustine.

What is Team St. Augustine?

Join Jeff Golden and Team St. Augustine fans! We are not afraid to take risks when we should be taking caution. We may go into battle against the paranormal. Jeff Golden took a risk by staying in St. Augustine and he soon faced his fears and became stronger. Do you want to join our team and find out if you have the ability to take on the paranormal? This is where you need to be!

What does the Street Team do?

The street team is a vital part of Doug Dillon’s growth. Members will be helping us spread the word about The St. Augustine Trilogy and Doug Dillon. You can tweet, Facebook, blog, etc.. There will be giveaways (a new one regularly) so re-tweeting and using the hash-tags #TeamStAugustine, #SlidingBeneaththeSurface, and #TheStAugustineTrilogy with the link http://goo.gl/nuJR4p will be important. We will also post new missions each week. I will email those to members as they are available. So, are you up for the challenge?

St. Augustine, FL, The Bridge of Lions

What do Street Team members get?

Street Team members will have special buttons and badges they can place on their blogs. If you’d like, please also post them as your avatar, Facebook image, or anywhere else you see fit. We have several images that can be posted on Pinterest as well. If you do post images and want to know where to link it to, please use http://goo.gl/nuJR4p.

In addition, street team members will be signed up to win:

St. Augustine, FL, Castillo de San Marcos

You will get to select any picture shown on the Trilogy FB page to receive as a 8 x 10 photo signed by Doug and with a note from him. But the selection must be from pictures relating to:

The City of St. Augustine
The St. Augustine Trilogy
Doug Dillon

This will be open internationally! And, each week we will be featuring our paranormal members who sign up for our street team. When filling out the form below be sure to answer “Why do you want to join Doug Dillon’s Street Team?” We will be featuring those answers on different occasions. Please include your blog URL/name so we can link to your page. If you do not have a blog, please link your twitter or facebook URL and we will link that.

How do I sign up?

Are you ready to join us and accept your first mission as part of Team St. Augustine? Fill out the form below to get started! This will automatically enter you into the St. Augustine Trilogy Giveaway (Open Internationally). You will be notified when we feature your answer to “Why do you want to join Doug Dillon’s Street Team?”

HERE IS THE FORM TO SIGN UP FOR DOUG DILLON’S STREET TEAM!

Please remember!

We will be posting new assignments regularly. Those assignments will be posted on our website & emailed to you.

Note: Follow As You Wish Tours Website by Email

Your first assignment is listed below!

Please use the hash tags #TeamStAugustine, #SlidingBeneaththeSurface, and #TheStAugustineTrilogy with the link http://goo.gl/nuJR4p.

Remember to grab a button/badge for your blog and/or avatars!

Keep an eye out for new giveaways that will be posted regularly.

You will be featured in a Street Team post with your answer from the form above.

Our Blog Information

Doug Dillion | Author
As You Wish Tours
As You Wish Reviews

Now that you have accepted Team St. Augustine’s Mission, grab a button and badge! Remember Sharing is Caring!

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Button

You are now part of Team St. Augustine! Start spreading the word!

 

First Street Team Mission

We will be tweeting with the hashtag #IfIwereJeffGolden this week. Please tweet that tag with the #TheStAugustineTrilogy tag and link http://goo.gl/nuJR4p then tell everyone what you would do if you were Jeff Golden faced with paranormal experiences.

Example

#IfIwereJeffGolden I would stand up against the paranormal and choose #TeamStAugustine! #TheStAugustineTrilogy http://goo.gl/nuJR4p

Click here to connect with Julia and her blog to sign up.

Below is the trailer for Book I, Sliding Beneath the Surface. The trailer for Book II, Stepping Off a Cliff will be out soon.

Click here to see the reviews Book I on Amazon. com.

“Students Will Enjoy:” Young Adult, Paranormal & Historic

Sliding Beneath the Surface

The St. Augustine Trilogy:

Book I

A review placed on Amazon by Katie.

Sliding Beneath the Surface’s combination of St. Augustine history and paranormal activity make it an intriguing read for students to pick up.

Vampires, ghosts, alternate realities, etc. are extremely popular with young adults right now and Doug Dillon does a great job of sneaking quite a bit of historical references and facts into this novel.

It appeals to both male and female readers with mystery, battles, and some romance.

To see this review on Amazon, click here.

 

“Very Intrigued:” Young Adult, Paranormal & Historical

Sliding Beneath the Surface

The St. Augustine Trilogy:

Book I

Excerpts from a review placed on Amazon by Shelby Lee.

Jeff has just moved to town recently. With a absent mother and no real home life he has developed a strong bond with a girl, Carla, down the street. As things begin to happen to Jeff he can’t explain Carla takes him to meet her friend Lobo.

An older Indian gentleman who has a strange ability to know what you’re thinking and know things about you that he has no business knowing. Lobo explains to Jeff that after his bike accident he has abilities others don’t. He can see the worlds within worlds of the reality around us.

But Jeff has no control over those powers and finds himself in danger as an ancient spirit keeps trying to contact him. Jeff finds himself thrust into a world with rules he doesn’t understand trying to figure out what is happening around him and gain even a little control over his new “powers.”

He finds himself splitting away from his body and seeing double, as things trip him up and send his consciousness to another reality. As more details of the ancient spirit trying to get his attention become known Jeff and Carla find themselves delving into the details of one particular battle in the Seminole War. Only finding out everything they can will help them free the spirit trapped in it’s endless loop and let things return to normal.

Oh man I do love me some history! The way Mr. Dillon incorporated his history of the Seminole Wars into this novel was fantastic! I loved the links to the future descendants and the descriptions of the battle they were trapped in. He made that very real for me. The last third of this book was AWESOME!

I really liked the characters here as well. Carla had such great spunk, Lobo was interesting and just enough off kilter to be interesting without being overly creepy, and Jeff is the great everyman foil for a kid thrust into circumstances out of his control.

The mythology of the worlds within worlds bit was an interesting concept as well. I liked seeing how our perception of the world could be very narrow. There’s something very cool about how all knowing Lobo could be without really knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

To see the full review on Amazon, click here.

 

“Can’t Wait Till the Next One.”

Sliding Beneath the Surface

The St. Augustine Trilogy:

Book I

Young Adult, Paranormal & Historical

A review placed on Amazon and Goodreads by Bruce Weller.

This Book I decided to take a chance on. I have been reading more in the vampires part of the paranormal. I was Very happy to find that this was a great read.

I like the flow of the characters.

Lobo was a strong old man with a way to get into the minds of those around him. I like how Carla took over and ran things the way she wanted them.

It was a good story on emotions and fear making people do and think in ways that are not logical to others.

I found Jeff to be a very typical kid trying to hide his intelligence and trying way to hard to impress the girl. I thought it was good that he started in his journey with the battles by himself, so when the time actually came he was ready to be there for others.

He got to lose it by himself so when the lives of others were on the line he found his true nature and was able to complete the journey that was his to make.

The Battle scene was made real to me. I am now wanting to go check on the actual battle.

Finding out that the character went from not seeing the past as real to the realization that war is not a story to be just read but a real frightening and deadly existence that no one should ever have to go through!.

I tried to write this review without trying to ruin the story for others. But I completely loved the morals of the characters and how history was brought to the eyes of the kids, sometimes we forget that real people have had to live though some very bad history.

I hope to see Carla and Jeff interact more in the future, I was so rooting for Jeff and Carla that seem to be a match made in heaven and a great team. With Lobo to drive them crazy I see great stories to be told.

Click here to see this review on Amazon.com.

 

“Loved it!” Young Adult, Paranormal & Historical

Sliding Beneath the Surface

The St. Augustine Trilogy:

Book I

A review placed on Goodreads and Amazon by Allyson Michelle.

I have to say I loved this story.

I loved the unique world the author created.

I like the characters and their strengths.

I was hooked and had to keep reading to find out what happens.

I can’t wait to read book 2.

It’s always nice to read a story about the state you live in too.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Paranormal stories, If you haven’t read this book you should.

Click here to see the full review on Amazon.

 

A Really Rip-Roaring Story

Sliding Beneath the Surface

The St. Augustine Trilogy:

Book I

Young Adult, Paranormal & Historical

A review placed on Amazon by David.

As the author of two St. Augustine books myself, I can say that Doug Dillon knows the city.

He also knows kids and nailed the dialogue, attitudes, and personalities of the two teenagers.

. . .a really rip-roaring story, which was well developed, paced exactly right, and well written.

Teenagers will love this book as I did. I’m looking forward to more great stories from Doug Dillon.

Click here to see the full review on Amazon.

 

 

Past Lives: Experience the Possibilities

Reincarnation? Rebirth? Past lives?

Come and explore the possibilities in Orlando. I’ll be appearing with Diane Ross, hypnotist and meditation teacher.

Program Description:

Have you lived before? Take a virtual foray into the past during this group session and uncover one of your previous lifetimes.

Join author Doug Dillon as he reveals his own past life connections and how they influenced his writing. Doug is author of the nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, and The St. Augustine Trilogy, paranormal fiction for young adult and adults young at heart.

Then let hypnotist and meditation teacher, Diane Ross, author of Meditations for Miracles, guide you into a state of deep relaxation whereby you can experience a previous lifetime for yourself. Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to revisit your own past!

A book signing by both authors will follow the presentation.

Cost?  FREE

When? 

Saturday, September 14, 2013 from 2 – 4 p.m.

Where?

Herndon Branch Library (Orange County Library System)

432 E. Colonial Drive

407-83-7323

 

 

 

Click here to check out Diane’s other excellent workshops and services.

 

A Mix of History and the Supernatural

Sliding Beneath the Surface

The St. Augustine Trilogy:

Book I

Young Adult, Paranormal & Historical

A review on Amazon by Cait E

Sliding Beneath the Surface was a very unique book and very different from many other paranormal and fantasy books.

It is written in a way that makes it seem realistic, as though these strange things could really happen.

It is also unique because it not only includes supernatural situations but it is also infused with real history in St. Augustine, Florida, which I, as a middle school teacher, love!

In this book there is constantly something happening and you continue to be on the edge of your seat turning page to page.

From the very beginning of this book I was hooked.

I loved how Doug Dillon introduced the main character Jeff in such a hilarious way.

Jeff is such a sarcastic character and he’s definitely a character that most people could relate to, which gets the readers quickly invested in what’s going on. You want to know what he will go through next.

Jeff is a kid that recently moved to St. Augustine, Florida and he’s just trying to survive being new but then we learn that he is going through some strange and unexplainable things.

In his desperation, Carla, Jeff’s best friend, takes him to see Lobo, a wise Native American who has a lot of knowledge and special abilities in the paranormal area. Together, they try to figure out what is happening to Jeff and they need to find out quick before it means Jeff’s life.

As a reading teacher, I will be recommending this book to my students who are 12 and up.

I think they would really enjoy this book because it is creepy, always exciting, and it includes the paranormal, which they love. They would also learn about history without even realizing it!

Click here to see this review on Amazon.