Beem Weeks's Blog, page 6
February 22, 2014
Papala Skies
Papala Skies by Stephen GeezMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is another strong novel by indie author Stephen Geez. Set in Chicago, France, and Hawaii, this story traces the life of young Rochelle, who may or may not have been responsible for her mother's death. Through boarding school and on to university, Rochelle ends up in a remote paradise, living among people she doesn't know, in a culture she refuses to understand. But it's new-found friends with these strange cultural practices--throwing flaming papala spears into the sky to summon the spirits of the dead--that she comes to rely upon for comfort and, hopefully, closure. Stephen Geez is as good an author as they come. Papala Skies is one of his best.
The Fresh Ink Group is pleased to announce that this incredible novel by one of their most celebrated authors is now available for just .99 cents. Get your copy of this Hawaiian adventure on your Kindle today. Find it on Amazon at http://www.tinyurl.com/bsvnpv2 and on Barnes & Noble at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/papal...
href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... all my reviews
February 19, 2014
Rave Reviews Book Club
So you’ve written the next great novel, put in the time and effort to get the manuscript polished to a high sheen, and spent untold amounts of money to get your masterpiece edited and published. It’s there on Amazon for everybody in the world to buy, read, and review—if only they knew the book exists! Sure, you’ve tweeted about it, posted short blurbs on Facebook, joined amazing author sites like Koobug.com and Goodreads. Maybe you’ve even spent a little extra money to have a web site set up. Is this enough? Are there other things an author can do to push sales closer to something resembling respectable?
Have you considered joining a book club? I don’t mean your grandmother’s book club, either. I’m talking about the Rave Reviews Book Club.
“Rave Reviews Book Club,” you wonder. “What exactly is Rave Reviews Book Club?”
I’m glad you asked. Rave Reviews Book Club is a unique group of authors and readers joined together by a desire to help lift the indie publishing industry to new heights. Let’s face it, there are many amazingly talented authors whose work is languishing on the e-shelves of Amazon.com, Smashwords, Barnes&Noble, and other internet outlets, never to be read or even acknowledged.
This is where Rave Reviews Book Club comes into play. It’s a simple concept, really, one designed to benefit member authors. Here’s how it works:
An author joins the club. This author submits the title of his/her book(s). Eventually, this book becomes one of the club’s selected reads. Fellow members purchase copies of the selected book, they read it and post reviews on Amazon.com, Koobug.com, Goodreads, Barnes&Noble, and any other site that accepts book reviews.
The author benefits from sales and reviews. The reader discovers new favorites.
Each member agrees to buy, read, and review at least four (4) of the selections over the course of the year. Think about it; that’s just one book every three (3) months. Easy enough, don’t you think? Promoting indie authors is the primary goal of this growing membership.
Rave Reviews Book Club even offers prize giveaways, Twitter support, and a weekly Author Spotlight blog tour.
If this sounds like something you might be interested in, just visit the website for further details on becoming a member yourself.
http://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordp...
And don’t forget to tell them Beem sent you!
Have you considered joining a book club? I don’t mean your grandmother’s book club, either. I’m talking about the Rave Reviews Book Club.
“Rave Reviews Book Club,” you wonder. “What exactly is Rave Reviews Book Club?”
I’m glad you asked. Rave Reviews Book Club is a unique group of authors and readers joined together by a desire to help lift the indie publishing industry to new heights. Let’s face it, there are many amazingly talented authors whose work is languishing on the e-shelves of Amazon.com, Smashwords, Barnes&Noble, and other internet outlets, never to be read or even acknowledged.
This is where Rave Reviews Book Club comes into play. It’s a simple concept, really, one designed to benefit member authors. Here’s how it works:
An author joins the club. This author submits the title of his/her book(s). Eventually, this book becomes one of the club’s selected reads. Fellow members purchase copies of the selected book, they read it and post reviews on Amazon.com, Koobug.com, Goodreads, Barnes&Noble, and any other site that accepts book reviews.
The author benefits from sales and reviews. The reader discovers new favorites.
Each member agrees to buy, read, and review at least four (4) of the selections over the course of the year. Think about it; that’s just one book every three (3) months. Easy enough, don’t you think? Promoting indie authors is the primary goal of this growing membership.
Rave Reviews Book Club even offers prize giveaways, Twitter support, and a weekly Author Spotlight blog tour.
If this sounds like something you might be interested in, just visit the website for further details on becoming a member yourself.
http://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordp...
And don’t forget to tell them Beem sent you!
February 11, 2014
My Review of Grandfather's Uncle
Grandfather's Uncle by Philip J. McQuillanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Have you ever wondered about those ancestors that came before you? I’m talking about your grandfather’s uncle. Do you know anything about that sort of relative? If you’re like most people, you know next to nothing. It’s just the way of life. A person can be virtually forgotten within two generations.
Philip J. McQuillan understands this fact of life all too well. So he set about ensuring his own father wouldn’t be lost to future generations of McQuillans. His book, entitled Grandfather’s Uncle, is not about his granfather’s uncle. Instead, it tells the story of the author’s father, painting a wonderful picture of the man, his times, and the things in life that brought him joy. Most importantly, this book captures the personality of a man no longer residing in this realm.
Big Philip, as the father was known, lived to the ripe old age of ninety-eight. Philip, the son, documents Big Philip’s love of card games, cooking, golf, tennis, classical music, and great literature. But the author takes it even further, sharing the many favorite words and phrases spoken and savored by Big Philip, going so far as to present these in bold type throughout this memoir to his father.
Big Philip spent his life as a high school English Literature teacher. He also worked evenings as a radio announcer at a local radio station. You could say the man was a people person of the first order.
Now, before you decide this book isn’t for you—who cares about another person’s memories, right? Wrong! This is an important contribution to history. It brings back to life an everyday-American worthy of being remembered. These memories stirred up my own recollections of long-gone grandparents, great-uncles and aunts, and the close family friends no longer on planet Earth. We all know about Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Harry Houdini. These were famous people, men made immortal through the dozens of books, movies, and documentaries depicting their lives. But what about those, like Big Phil, who weren’t considered famous? Are they any less worthy of being remembered? Thankfully Philip McQuillan thought to capture this amazing man and his life on the pages of a book.
This is a short read, running at about thirty pages. But it is no less entertaining than a three-hundred page biography. This is something we should all consider. I lost my father just two years ago. I now have grandchildren who will never know that man. To write my remembrances of him would be a gift to my grandchildren, sure, but it would also honor the one I called Dad.
I enjoyed reading this memoir. I am certain that many others will take great joy in it as well
View all my reviews
February 2, 2014
Why Do We Write?
Why do we write? It’s a simple enough question. The answer, well, that’s not quite as cut and dried. Every writer has his or her own reason for putting pen to paper in an effort to entertain, educate, or just let off a little steam.
I’ve been writing since about the age of eight. It’s just something I’ve always enjoyed. My motivations have changed over the years. Early on I wrote with the notion that I’d be the only one reading my work. I’d put down on paper some grand idea I’d find wandering through my head, an event from the day, or maybe a song or a poem. There has always been a need for me to create with word combinations belonging only to me.
In my teen years, for the first time, I wrote knowing that others would read my words. These writings took the form of record and concert reviews published in my high school’s newspaper. I went to a large school, with a student body of nearly 2500 members. People began to give me feedback, advice, compliments. I absorbed it all like a sponge. I felt a calling on my life; a calling to write.
To this day I am not able to make a living with this craft. And that’s fine; I didn’t take up my pen for financial gain. If and when it comes, that will be the clichéd icing on the proverbial cake!
I still enjoy writing. Whether it’s a novel, short stories, book reviews, or blog articles—like this one here—writing is my passion. I also find pleasure in writing communications to friends; letters that I’ll compose using pen and paper, stamp and envelope. I just don’t write every day the way I once did. Mood is my major motivating factor these days. Do I feel like writing something today? If I do, what form will it take? That’s just me, though.
Some writers must create each every day. Many even establish a daily word count. The day is a complete loss if they’ve not sprinkled a thousand words across their keyboard. It’s all selective depending on the individual.
Ann Frank needed to write. This girl’s existence consisted inside four walls of a silent room that became her family’s prison for many years. She wrote every day, detailing a life most human beings could never imagine. Writing is all Ann Frank had to keep her connected to the world—as dark as her world became.
Harper Lee didn’t need to write. Oh, sure, early on she wrote short stories, essays, and articles. But then she wrote a novel called To Kill A Mockingbird and basically walked away from the craft. Her sister claims the author knew she’d never again approach the level of success Mockingbird achieved—no matter the caliber of book number two. So why bother? Rumor has it there’s an incomplete book with the Harper Lee name attached to it. We’ll probably never have a chance to read it, though.
J. D. Salinger, though he ceased publishing his work after the mid-1960s, continued to write, taking a few hours each and every morning, creating stories only he had opportunity to enjoy. Upon his death, it was revealed that several of Salinger’s unreleased manuscripts would be published. The man loved writing but hated the attention his work drew from across the world.
Some people have never written anything outside of personal letters to friends and family. That doesn’t make them any less a writer than those with books or short stories on their resumes.
Everybody has their own reasons for writing—regardless if they publish or not.
Why do I write? I write because I have a passion to write—just not every day.
Why do you write?
I’ve been writing since about the age of eight. It’s just something I’ve always enjoyed. My motivations have changed over the years. Early on I wrote with the notion that I’d be the only one reading my work. I’d put down on paper some grand idea I’d find wandering through my head, an event from the day, or maybe a song or a poem. There has always been a need for me to create with word combinations belonging only to me.
In my teen years, for the first time, I wrote knowing that others would read my words. These writings took the form of record and concert reviews published in my high school’s newspaper. I went to a large school, with a student body of nearly 2500 members. People began to give me feedback, advice, compliments. I absorbed it all like a sponge. I felt a calling on my life; a calling to write.
To this day I am not able to make a living with this craft. And that’s fine; I didn’t take up my pen for financial gain. If and when it comes, that will be the clichéd icing on the proverbial cake!
I still enjoy writing. Whether it’s a novel, short stories, book reviews, or blog articles—like this one here—writing is my passion. I also find pleasure in writing communications to friends; letters that I’ll compose using pen and paper, stamp and envelope. I just don’t write every day the way I once did. Mood is my major motivating factor these days. Do I feel like writing something today? If I do, what form will it take? That’s just me, though.
Some writers must create each every day. Many even establish a daily word count. The day is a complete loss if they’ve not sprinkled a thousand words across their keyboard. It’s all selective depending on the individual.
Ann Frank needed to write. This girl’s existence consisted inside four walls of a silent room that became her family’s prison for many years. She wrote every day, detailing a life most human beings could never imagine. Writing is all Ann Frank had to keep her connected to the world—as dark as her world became.
Harper Lee didn’t need to write. Oh, sure, early on she wrote short stories, essays, and articles. But then she wrote a novel called To Kill A Mockingbird and basically walked away from the craft. Her sister claims the author knew she’d never again approach the level of success Mockingbird achieved—no matter the caliber of book number two. So why bother? Rumor has it there’s an incomplete book with the Harper Lee name attached to it. We’ll probably never have a chance to read it, though.
J. D. Salinger, though he ceased publishing his work after the mid-1960s, continued to write, taking a few hours each and every morning, creating stories only he had opportunity to enjoy. Upon his death, it was revealed that several of Salinger’s unreleased manuscripts would be published. The man loved writing but hated the attention his work drew from across the world.
Some people have never written anything outside of personal letters to friends and family. That doesn’t make them any less a writer than those with books or short stories on their resumes.
Everybody has their own reasons for writing—regardless if they publish or not.
Why do I write? I write because I have a passion to write—just not every day.
Why do you write?
January 23, 2014
A New Low Price!
In the quest to reach a wider audience, which in turn will hopefully mean selling more books, I have teamed up with my publisher, Fresh Ink Group LLC, in lowering the price on the Jazz Baby ebook. It will now be just .99 cents U.S. and .77 U.K.
I’m on the fence when it comes to giveaways. I certainly see the potential there. I’ve even downloaded some terrific books by means of the freebie. But still, I just find myself struggling with the idea of giving away my blood, sweat, and tears.
We haven’t put a time frame on the length of this price drop. We’ll play it by ear and see where it leads.
I would also like to point out that Papala Skies by Stephen Geez has been lowered to .99 cents U.S. and .77 U.K. for the ebook version. If this lower price meets with success, other titles in the Fresh Ink Group catalogue will most likely follow this price drop.
I’m on the fence when it comes to giveaways. I certainly see the potential there. I’ve even downloaded some terrific books by means of the freebie. But still, I just find myself struggling with the idea of giving away my blood, sweat, and tears.
We haven’t put a time frame on the length of this price drop. We’ll play it by ear and see where it leads.
I would also like to point out that Papala Skies by Stephen Geez has been lowered to .99 cents U.S. and .77 U.K. for the ebook version. If this lower price meets with success, other titles in the Fresh Ink Group catalogue will most likely follow this price drop.
January 22, 2014
Indie Author Suffers Stroke
*THIS POST IS A RE-BLOG FROM WRITING WHIMS*
COPYRIGHT CATE RUSSELL-COLE 2014
The greatest gift blogging and social networking has given me is the people I have met, some of whom are very dear to my heart. This post is an appeal to help Rags Daniels, a fellow Author who has suffered a stroke. He is in his early seventies and has a long road to recovery ahead. Obviously, he is offline, so I am asking all of you to help out by sharing / tweeting about Rags’ books and/or buy some to help him with the medical costs his family are undoubtably inundated with.
Rags is one of the few proper gentlemen left! He has the heart of a lion and has become very special to me in the months I have known him. He has given generously to charity work over many years and has also taken a child into his home to care for. If anyone I know deserves the help, he does. You just have to look at the love left on his Facebook wall to see that he’s gained a special spot in more hearts than mine… and he is an awesome writer with incredible life experience from which to draw his novels!
Please share his books on your social media accounts and/or buy a book… or two! For those of you so inclined, I am sure prayer would be welcomed. Please go to Amazon in your country and search for Rags Daniels. His book descriptions are below with links to the United Kingdom site. They come in Kindle and paperback and are perfect for crime lovers.
Lallapaloosa: October 8, 1967, ‘Che’ Ernesto Guevara was executed… Or so the world believed. Inspired by a true sequence of events, ’Lallapaloosa’ tells in flashback the story leading up to the betrayal and ‘capture’ of the worlds most famous revolutionary and master of disguise. Original, fast moving, and atmospheric to the last whiff of a Partagas cigar, it begins thirty years after the event with a series of sinister murders against a fraternity of retired mercenaries who, having fought alongside ‘Che’ in the Congo, grouped for one last mission in the jungles of Bolivia. For thirty years, Richard Strang, thought he shared the worlds best kept secret with no one. Then one summer evening, the tap of a blind man’s cane, and a nose for the toasted Cuban leaf, changed all that.
Foxy Lady:Lady Carolyne Dryden is a brilliant and gifted young woman operating a policy auction house in London for her father. Late one evening she is brutally assaulted, robbed, and left to die. A few days later two bodies are found in the same house the assault took place. Others follow, and a sewer of corruption contained beneath the razzamatazz of a General Election leads to shattering revelations and murderous passions; causing her well-organised world to turn into an arena of pursuit and terror, and where the only certainty is that nothing is certain. Bursting with insight into the seedy, sleazy world of political funding, Foxy Lady leads the reader totally believing through all its unbelievable twists and turns until its astonishing climax. Optima corrupta pessima. ‘The best things corrupted become the worst.’
Groomed to Kill: Group 13 aka Pegasus, the Government’s assassination and dirty tricks squad some say still exist. Others vehemently deny its existence.‘Groomed To Kill’ is a well crafted high velocity tale of intrigue, sex and betrayal. Dialogue driven, it is a story taken from the journals of James Sutherland and spans over fifty years of one mans life, a life dedicated to serving without question those whose responsibility it is to defend the realm by any means at their disposal. Jimmy Sutherlands’ story begins in post war ravaged Salford and tells of his schooling in weaponry by Owen Kelly, a WW2 veteran sniper. Throughout his distinguished career, Jimmy carries out numerous assassinations for his taskmaster and controller Frank Steadman. Then on retirement, Jimmy gets news of the release from prison of crime lord Hector Cicero, brutal murderer of his brother, Billy. The scene is now set for what becomes a searing quest for vengeance, culminating in a vicious gangland battle for supremacy in England’s northwest. Aided by Andy Cassin, his old and trusted childhood friend and whose brother was also murdered by Hector Cicero, Jimmy Sutherland takes on both the Cicero and McGuire crime cartels with devastating consequences…
30sex Hours: ‘Operation Spanner’ was the codename of an undercover investigation carried out by Manchester City Police, in 1988. The police had obtained a video which they believed depicted acts of sadistic torture. Convinced the people in the video were being tortured and killed, a murder investigation was launched, a number of properties were raided and several arrests were made. Now meet the voluptuous and delectable, PC Koral Devine. Dark, sultry and according to her superiors, a bit of a handful, she had been tipped by her Commanding Officer to win the prestigious award of undercover policewoman of the year. But first she had to infiltrate a ring of local luminaries lead by amateur film maker ‘Uncle Albert’ and resident Magistrate Hilda Carstairs, who were believed to operate a lucrative business catering for the slaves of ‘leather and steel’. Her assignment is both a perilous and intimate initiation into the world of sado masochism; and PC Koral Devine will do absolutely anything to get ‘her man’.
Salford Sunrise: Salford Sunrise is a well-crafted, brilliantly witty, high velocity tale of intrigue, sex and betrayal. Dialogue driven, the story has been taken and adapted from the chronicles of James Sutherland and spans over fifty years of one man’s life, a life dedicated to serving without question those whose responsibility it is to defend the realm by any means at their disposal.
Meet Rags
Rags Daniels aka Trevor Timbs, was born into a working class family, the second of four children, Salford 1944. He migrated South 1956. Wild and curious, he ran off to London, where he met the majority of the characters he writes about.
The swinging sixties and early seventies played a major roll in his insatiable thirst for adventure, and against a backdrop of mini-skirts, mod’s, rockers and Muhammad Ali, bore witness to an era of crazy fads, culminating in Britain’s first ever woman Prime Minister in 1979. And of whom Lord Acton said, ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely, ’ and by the end of her era, Thatcher was case in point. And while the Nation paddled through rubbish, bodies unburied, strikes, power cuts, spiralling inflation, limited working weeks, abysmal production, etc, etc, the real money was going into the pockets of fraudulent corporate boards and City Yuppies. (Groomed to Kill), his first book was written against a backdrop of inner city poverty and tells of lad who became a government assassin.
Rags worked in Norway on timber frame construction, where he met John Millen, a naval architect who designed Pearl Harbour after the war. He became a ‘minder’ for his mother-in-law, both on and off his motor yacht in which he and his wife toured the world. Returning home, he then attended Brunel University and passed I.O.C.W.(GB)inc, exams. Rags started working with Borough Architects Dept.; resigned; got married and built his own house in South Devon while running several companies. He has also constructed a steel mill in India and a tiger compound in Nepal for the World Wildlife Trust.
When widowed, he returned to writing and investigative journalism… It is from his diaries of the 60’s and 70’s he wrote ‘Foxy Lady’, creating a fictional account of one such tale of political intrigue, and one for which he was interviewed by MI6. His latest book ‘Salford Sunrise’, is available in Amazon Kindle and ‘Lallapaloosa’ is currently being scripted for the silver screen. He resides with his son, an A level English teacher, and Roxzan, his 13 year old adopted Granddaughter.
Follow Rags
His Blog: http://ragsdaniels.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAuthorRag...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RagsDaniels
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rags-Daniels/...
Share this post.
COPYRIGHT CATE RUSSELL-COLE 2014
The greatest gift blogging and social networking has given me is the people I have met, some of whom are very dear to my heart. This post is an appeal to help Rags Daniels, a fellow Author who has suffered a stroke. He is in his early seventies and has a long road to recovery ahead. Obviously, he is offline, so I am asking all of you to help out by sharing / tweeting about Rags’ books and/or buy some to help him with the medical costs his family are undoubtably inundated with.
Rags is one of the few proper gentlemen left! He has the heart of a lion and has become very special to me in the months I have known him. He has given generously to charity work over many years and has also taken a child into his home to care for. If anyone I know deserves the help, he does. You just have to look at the love left on his Facebook wall to see that he’s gained a special spot in more hearts than mine… and he is an awesome writer with incredible life experience from which to draw his novels!
Please share his books on your social media accounts and/or buy a book… or two! For those of you so inclined, I am sure prayer would be welcomed. Please go to Amazon in your country and search for Rags Daniels. His book descriptions are below with links to the United Kingdom site. They come in Kindle and paperback and are perfect for crime lovers.
Lallapaloosa: October 8, 1967, ‘Che’ Ernesto Guevara was executed… Or so the world believed. Inspired by a true sequence of events, ’Lallapaloosa’ tells in flashback the story leading up to the betrayal and ‘capture’ of the worlds most famous revolutionary and master of disguise. Original, fast moving, and atmospheric to the last whiff of a Partagas cigar, it begins thirty years after the event with a series of sinister murders against a fraternity of retired mercenaries who, having fought alongside ‘Che’ in the Congo, grouped for one last mission in the jungles of Bolivia. For thirty years, Richard Strang, thought he shared the worlds best kept secret with no one. Then one summer evening, the tap of a blind man’s cane, and a nose for the toasted Cuban leaf, changed all that.
Foxy Lady:Lady Carolyne Dryden is a brilliant and gifted young woman operating a policy auction house in London for her father. Late one evening she is brutally assaulted, robbed, and left to die. A few days later two bodies are found in the same house the assault took place. Others follow, and a sewer of corruption contained beneath the razzamatazz of a General Election leads to shattering revelations and murderous passions; causing her well-organised world to turn into an arena of pursuit and terror, and where the only certainty is that nothing is certain. Bursting with insight into the seedy, sleazy world of political funding, Foxy Lady leads the reader totally believing through all its unbelievable twists and turns until its astonishing climax. Optima corrupta pessima. ‘The best things corrupted become the worst.’
Groomed to Kill: Group 13 aka Pegasus, the Government’s assassination and dirty tricks squad some say still exist. Others vehemently deny its existence.‘Groomed To Kill’ is a well crafted high velocity tale of intrigue, sex and betrayal. Dialogue driven, it is a story taken from the journals of James Sutherland and spans over fifty years of one mans life, a life dedicated to serving without question those whose responsibility it is to defend the realm by any means at their disposal. Jimmy Sutherlands’ story begins in post war ravaged Salford and tells of his schooling in weaponry by Owen Kelly, a WW2 veteran sniper. Throughout his distinguished career, Jimmy carries out numerous assassinations for his taskmaster and controller Frank Steadman. Then on retirement, Jimmy gets news of the release from prison of crime lord Hector Cicero, brutal murderer of his brother, Billy. The scene is now set for what becomes a searing quest for vengeance, culminating in a vicious gangland battle for supremacy in England’s northwest. Aided by Andy Cassin, his old and trusted childhood friend and whose brother was also murdered by Hector Cicero, Jimmy Sutherland takes on both the Cicero and McGuire crime cartels with devastating consequences…
30sex Hours: ‘Operation Spanner’ was the codename of an undercover investigation carried out by Manchester City Police, in 1988. The police had obtained a video which they believed depicted acts of sadistic torture. Convinced the people in the video were being tortured and killed, a murder investigation was launched, a number of properties were raided and several arrests were made. Now meet the voluptuous and delectable, PC Koral Devine. Dark, sultry and according to her superiors, a bit of a handful, she had been tipped by her Commanding Officer to win the prestigious award of undercover policewoman of the year. But first she had to infiltrate a ring of local luminaries lead by amateur film maker ‘Uncle Albert’ and resident Magistrate Hilda Carstairs, who were believed to operate a lucrative business catering for the slaves of ‘leather and steel’. Her assignment is both a perilous and intimate initiation into the world of sado masochism; and PC Koral Devine will do absolutely anything to get ‘her man’.
Salford Sunrise: Salford Sunrise is a well-crafted, brilliantly witty, high velocity tale of intrigue, sex and betrayal. Dialogue driven, the story has been taken and adapted from the chronicles of James Sutherland and spans over fifty years of one man’s life, a life dedicated to serving without question those whose responsibility it is to defend the realm by any means at their disposal.
Meet Rags
Rags Daniels aka Trevor Timbs, was born into a working class family, the second of four children, Salford 1944. He migrated South 1956. Wild and curious, he ran off to London, where he met the majority of the characters he writes about.
The swinging sixties and early seventies played a major roll in his insatiable thirst for adventure, and against a backdrop of mini-skirts, mod’s, rockers and Muhammad Ali, bore witness to an era of crazy fads, culminating in Britain’s first ever woman Prime Minister in 1979. And of whom Lord Acton said, ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely, ’ and by the end of her era, Thatcher was case in point. And while the Nation paddled through rubbish, bodies unburied, strikes, power cuts, spiralling inflation, limited working weeks, abysmal production, etc, etc, the real money was going into the pockets of fraudulent corporate boards and City Yuppies. (Groomed to Kill), his first book was written against a backdrop of inner city poverty and tells of lad who became a government assassin.
Rags worked in Norway on timber frame construction, where he met John Millen, a naval architect who designed Pearl Harbour after the war. He became a ‘minder’ for his mother-in-law, both on and off his motor yacht in which he and his wife toured the world. Returning home, he then attended Brunel University and passed I.O.C.W.(GB)inc, exams. Rags started working with Borough Architects Dept.; resigned; got married and built his own house in South Devon while running several companies. He has also constructed a steel mill in India and a tiger compound in Nepal for the World Wildlife Trust.
When widowed, he returned to writing and investigative journalism… It is from his diaries of the 60’s and 70’s he wrote ‘Foxy Lady’, creating a fictional account of one such tale of political intrigue, and one for which he was interviewed by MI6. His latest book ‘Salford Sunrise’, is available in Amazon Kindle and ‘Lallapaloosa’ is currently being scripted for the silver screen. He resides with his son, an A level English teacher, and Roxzan, his 13 year old adopted Granddaughter.
Follow Rags
His Blog: http://ragsdaniels.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAuthorRag...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RagsDaniels
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rags-Daniels/...
Share this post.
January 19, 2014
My Review of Daydream's Daughter, Nightmare's Friend
Daydream's Daughter, Nightmare's Friend: One Woman's Journey Through Two Hells by Nonnie JulesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Daydream’s Daughter, Nightmare’s Friend by Nonnie Jules opens with a shooting. A teenage girl appears to have pulled the trigger. What would lead an outwardly normal, well-adjusted girl to shoot the primary breadwinner in a home stricken with poverty? Author Jules lures the reader in, sparing few details in this dark read. Think Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison for these modern times.
Maiya’s mother is a physically abusive alcoholic with little patience for her daughter (one of seven children fathered by several different men). Bad things happen, which leads to unimaginable and awful secrets far too heavy for a young girl to be forced to bear.
Maiya does have allies in her corner: a godmother who helps the girl deal with the consequences of abuse; a best friend, Charlotte, who wants to shield Maiya from the horrible realities in her corner of the world; loving grandparents who try to do what they feel is right by their granddaughter; and others who drift into her life at various times. But this story is about Maiya, about her struggle for a normal life, about one girl who seeks triumph in the face of certain defeat.
Nonnie Jules has proven herself a skilled storyteller of the first order. As far as debut novels go, this one ranks high on my list. There are some sexually explicit scenes, so this is not a novel for the youngsters. But for those who enjoy a good, solid story, Daydream’s Daughter, Nightmare’s Friend is one you’ll want to read.
View all my reviews
January 9, 2014
Introducing Nonnie Jules
***ATTENTION***
Introducing Author ~ NONNIE JULES' highly anticipated debut novel
"DAYDREAM'S DAUGHTER,
NIGHTMARE'S FRIEND"
New Release now on Amazon, Createspace & B&N.com.
To check out an excerpt of this riveting, spell-binding story which is set out of the beautiful city of Houston, Texas, click here. http://nonniewrites.wordpress.com/non...
To read more about Author ~ Nonnie Jules, visit her author page. http://nonniewrites.wordpress.com/
This novel is currently being looked at as a screen-play possibility but you all can help turn that into a reality by simply spreading the word and getting your very own copy! Ms. Jules is hoping for a phone call from the execs of Lifetime Movie Network any day and she truly believes it will happen. The story-line is too great for it not to.
Let's put this story on the map by forwarding and sharing this email with EVERYONE on your email list, with text messages to friends and family from your cell, with post and shares on your Facebook and Twitter as well as simple, yet very effective word-of-mouth.
You may take a glimpse inside the covers by clicking the Amazon links for the title anywhere on this page, but I must tell you, the really good stuff lies well past the preview Amazon offers.
This book would make an awesome gift. How about an autographed copy for that avid reader in your life? Just go to Nonnie's Book Store.
Thank you so much for your support and once again, let's spread the word by forwarding this email to EVERYONE you know!!!
Nonnie Jules, Author
"...and her words breathe life onto paper"
http://www.amazon.com/Daydreams-Daugh...
Introducing Author ~ NONNIE JULES' highly anticipated debut novel
"DAYDREAM'S DAUGHTER,
NIGHTMARE'S FRIEND"
New Release now on Amazon, Createspace & B&N.com.
To check out an excerpt of this riveting, spell-binding story which is set out of the beautiful city of Houston, Texas, click here. http://nonniewrites.wordpress.com/non...
To read more about Author ~ Nonnie Jules, visit her author page. http://nonniewrites.wordpress.com/
This novel is currently being looked at as a screen-play possibility but you all can help turn that into a reality by simply spreading the word and getting your very own copy! Ms. Jules is hoping for a phone call from the execs of Lifetime Movie Network any day and she truly believes it will happen. The story-line is too great for it not to.
Let's put this story on the map by forwarding and sharing this email with EVERYONE on your email list, with text messages to friends and family from your cell, with post and shares on your Facebook and Twitter as well as simple, yet very effective word-of-mouth.
You may take a glimpse inside the covers by clicking the Amazon links for the title anywhere on this page, but I must tell you, the really good stuff lies well past the preview Amazon offers.
This book would make an awesome gift. How about an autographed copy for that avid reader in your life? Just go to Nonnie's Book Store.
Thank you so much for your support and once again, let's spread the word by forwarding this email to EVERYONE you know!!!
Nonnie Jules, Author
"...and her words breathe life onto paper"
http://www.amazon.com/Daydreams-Daugh...
December 29, 2013
The Worst Franchise In Professional Sports
Well, they've gone and done it again. I'm talking about the Detroit Lions. This team began the season winning six of their first nine games. The run to the playoffs appeared probable. That picture became even brighter when divisional rivals the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears each suffered the loss of their starting quarterbacks.
Did the Lions take advantage of these unfortunate injuries? Did they step up and show the NFL that they have improved as a team?
No. This is still the Detroit Lions we're discussing here. From starting off with a 6-3 record, these chumps finished the season at 7-9.
Normally, I might be disappointed, angry, vow to never watch that sorry-excuse-for-an-NFL-team ever again. But something is different this season. I see it now. This is truly all the Detroit Lions will ever be. They will forever be a laughingstock of the league. Call them cursed, call them unfortunate, just don't call them contenders. They'll never be in that position.
What I saw this season is no different than any other season under any other coach in the last forty years of Detroit Lions football. There is absolutely no discipline to be found in this organization. From top to bottom they are a joke. Head coach Jim Schwartz is a perfect picture of what ails this team. Incompetent and in way over his head, the man, answering questions about the loss last week, which eliminated the team from playoff contention (Playoffs! Playoffs?) told reporters he couldn't focus on this loss because they have a game next week for which to prepare. An end-of-the-season, meaningless game! And this Bozo has to prepare for it?
But, hey, we Lions fans are used to the stupidity of the team's players and coaching staff. Four weeks ago player Stephen Tulloch tweeted a message to all of us angry fans. He said, in effect, that they, meaning the Lions, were still in first place; so no need to worry. Complacent is the word that comes to mind. I tweeted him back, assuring him that these first-place Lions would lose all three of their remaining games this season and would, yet once again, fail to make the playoffs! (Playoffs! Playoffs?) That's exactly what these chumps did. I didn't call this because I'm psychic. I didn't have any sort of insight. It's just that we Lions fans have seen this over and over and over again, to the point where it's just that predictable.
So we here, in the great state of Michigan, are once again forced to pick an enemy team to follow throughout the playoffs--or just not bother to watch. We're resigned to looking toward next season, hoping the Tigers and Red Wings give us much-needed thrills until that time when the Lions once again don pads and helmets for a fresh start. And note to Lions players: When I say pads, I mean shoulder pads, not maxi-pads. But hey, you girls gotta do what girls gotta do, right?
Did the Lions take advantage of these unfortunate injuries? Did they step up and show the NFL that they have improved as a team?
No. This is still the Detroit Lions we're discussing here. From starting off with a 6-3 record, these chumps finished the season at 7-9.
Normally, I might be disappointed, angry, vow to never watch that sorry-excuse-for-an-NFL-team ever again. But something is different this season. I see it now. This is truly all the Detroit Lions will ever be. They will forever be a laughingstock of the league. Call them cursed, call them unfortunate, just don't call them contenders. They'll never be in that position.
What I saw this season is no different than any other season under any other coach in the last forty years of Detroit Lions football. There is absolutely no discipline to be found in this organization. From top to bottom they are a joke. Head coach Jim Schwartz is a perfect picture of what ails this team. Incompetent and in way over his head, the man, answering questions about the loss last week, which eliminated the team from playoff contention (Playoffs! Playoffs?) told reporters he couldn't focus on this loss because they have a game next week for which to prepare. An end-of-the-season, meaningless game! And this Bozo has to prepare for it?
But, hey, we Lions fans are used to the stupidity of the team's players and coaching staff. Four weeks ago player Stephen Tulloch tweeted a message to all of us angry fans. He said, in effect, that they, meaning the Lions, were still in first place; so no need to worry. Complacent is the word that comes to mind. I tweeted him back, assuring him that these first-place Lions would lose all three of their remaining games this season and would, yet once again, fail to make the playoffs! (Playoffs! Playoffs?) That's exactly what these chumps did. I didn't call this because I'm psychic. I didn't have any sort of insight. It's just that we Lions fans have seen this over and over and over again, to the point where it's just that predictable.
So we here, in the great state of Michigan, are once again forced to pick an enemy team to follow throughout the playoffs--or just not bother to watch. We're resigned to looking toward next season, hoping the Tigers and Red Wings give us much-needed thrills until that time when the Lions once again don pads and helmets for a fresh start. And note to Lions players: When I say pads, I mean shoulder pads, not maxi-pads. But hey, you girls gotta do what girls gotta do, right?
Spontaneity In Your Writing
When writing a story, be it short or long, do you outline your project first? I do—to an extent. When I sat down to write my novel Jazz Baby, I wrote an extensive outline, diagrammed every twist and turn my story would take from the beginning to the end—and all points in between. Then I wrote the story and so very little of that original outline actually made it onto the pages of the finished product.
Let’s face it: Real life cannot be diagrammed. Life is spontaneous. Things happen that we could never foresee. Death is seldom predictable, yet it visits each and every single person born on this planet.
Spontaneity brings realism to fiction.
That doesn’t mean an author should write by the seat of his/her pants. I’ll outline the bare bones of a story; work up a feel for where it will start and where it will end. But all of that in-between stuff, that’s where spontaneity comes into play. This is usually the fun part of writing. Even I, as author, won’t know the full extent of what a character may say or do until the moment arrives.
But allowing spontaneity to take root is not as simple as just writing whatever comes into your head. If the hero does something that’s out of character, you risk losing readers. In other words, if your hero is an honest guy, you can’t have him stop a robbery in one scene, then watch as he steals money from a Girl Scout in the next scene—unless you’ve already established this guy has those sorts of flaws. This is where a good outline comes in handy. If you’ve taken time to flesh-out your characters, discovering likes and dislikes, quirks, behavior patterns, and such, you’ll be able to insert these characters into scenes that are believable.
However, doing things out of character doesn’t necessarily make for bad storytelling. If there’s a reason, a situation, or even the unexplainable—and it’s done right—a character may behave in a manner that is unrecognizable by even those closest to that person. The American TV series Breaking Bad pulled this off in brilliant fashion over the course of five seasons.
Short stories are a different animal compared to novels—at least for me. I don’t usually outline my short stories (at least not extensively). They begin life as a few words jotted on Post-It notes. These words usually consist of an idea that comes to me while I’m busy doing other things. Last night, I had an idea for a short story. The words on the Post-It read simply: Girl, closet, candle, heroin; trouble with parents. Moody. Eventually, after much consideration, I’ll begin building the story inside my head. When I feel it begins to make sense, can hear the characters voices, and know where I want to go with it, I’ll then start writing the story.
Outlines are important—to an extent. They help keep a story on track, giving the author an understanding of where to start and where to finish. Just don’t get so caught up in the outline that you’ve squeezed all of the spontaneity from your story. Life isn’t diagrammed; it’s filled with shock and surprise and joy and horror. Your writing should be that way, too.
Let’s face it: Real life cannot be diagrammed. Life is spontaneous. Things happen that we could never foresee. Death is seldom predictable, yet it visits each and every single person born on this planet.
Spontaneity brings realism to fiction.
That doesn’t mean an author should write by the seat of his/her pants. I’ll outline the bare bones of a story; work up a feel for where it will start and where it will end. But all of that in-between stuff, that’s where spontaneity comes into play. This is usually the fun part of writing. Even I, as author, won’t know the full extent of what a character may say or do until the moment arrives.
But allowing spontaneity to take root is not as simple as just writing whatever comes into your head. If the hero does something that’s out of character, you risk losing readers. In other words, if your hero is an honest guy, you can’t have him stop a robbery in one scene, then watch as he steals money from a Girl Scout in the next scene—unless you’ve already established this guy has those sorts of flaws. This is where a good outline comes in handy. If you’ve taken time to flesh-out your characters, discovering likes and dislikes, quirks, behavior patterns, and such, you’ll be able to insert these characters into scenes that are believable.
However, doing things out of character doesn’t necessarily make for bad storytelling. If there’s a reason, a situation, or even the unexplainable—and it’s done right—a character may behave in a manner that is unrecognizable by even those closest to that person. The American TV series Breaking Bad pulled this off in brilliant fashion over the course of five seasons.
Short stories are a different animal compared to novels—at least for me. I don’t usually outline my short stories (at least not extensively). They begin life as a few words jotted on Post-It notes. These words usually consist of an idea that comes to me while I’m busy doing other things. Last night, I had an idea for a short story. The words on the Post-It read simply: Girl, closet, candle, heroin; trouble with parents. Moody. Eventually, after much consideration, I’ll begin building the story inside my head. When I feel it begins to make sense, can hear the characters voices, and know where I want to go with it, I’ll then start writing the story.
Outlines are important—to an extent. They help keep a story on track, giving the author an understanding of where to start and where to finish. Just don’t get so caught up in the outline that you’ve squeezed all of the spontaneity from your story. Life isn’t diagrammed; it’s filled with shock and surprise and joy and horror. Your writing should be that way, too.
