Ailsa Abraham's Blog: Ailsa Abraham, page 12

NEW RELEASE – ‘Attention to Death’ by Ailsa Abraham…

Friends sharing the news is so kind and helpful xxx

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Finding a murderer among a group of killers is not going to be easy for two Royal Army Military Police investigators, Captain Angus Simpson and Staff-Sergeant Rafael ‘Raff’ Landen, whose Christmas leave is cancelled for an investigation into a suspicious death on a base in Germany.

The case is further complicated by unhelpful senior officers who make pre-judgements on colour, creed, race and sexuality. Yet the insight of the investigators helps them uncover a sinister plot, although they too have something to hide: their own fledgling relationship.

Will Angus and Raff be able to solve the murder without giving away their secret?

The best and worst of human nature is represented in this story, which is why it is suggested for over 18s only. 

Amazon:

UK  –  USA  –  CA  –  AUS

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Broad Thoughts From A Home: YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE! – a guest post by Ailsa Abraham

Source: Broad Thoughts From A Home: YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE! – a guest post by Ailsa Abraham

Time for some Laffs – Getting older has its moments. | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

My thanks to Mrs T.  the stage name of author Tina Frisco who feeds me funnies from time to time to share on the blog. Details of how you can buy her latest book at the end of the entertainment!   …

Source: Time for some Laffs – Getting older has its moments. | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

In my beginning…

… is my end (T.S. Elliott)

[image error]Aslan

I wasn’t going to make a big song and dance about my recent dementia diagnosis but everyone has been so very kind and lovely that I had to write a BIG thank you note.

In case anyone missed it, my brain is deteriorating rapidly and my last MRI scan showed the results normally associated with an 80-year-old. This is only going to get worse and my time left is limited. Details – the blood vessels in my brain are getting very thin indeed and so the chances of a major stroke or heart failure get higher and higher.

I’ve had post-stroke symptoms for some time. You may remember where I told you that at my last MRI in 2014, the specialist and I couldn’t decide if I was post-stroke or early Multiple Sclerosis and we almost tossed a coin for it. At least now I know it isn’t MS. I will become progressively more clumsy, disorientated, forgetful, and incapable. That’s OK, I’m used to it by now.

The only time I got scared was when my darling GP said “WHEN you have to go into the “Home” in Champlitte” rather than “if”. It’s a geriatric facility and although I know most of the people in there now, chances are they won’t recognise me. No, sorry, I’m not going in there.

When the time comes, and I will know when it does, I shall go home to Narnia. I know I will because Aslan has promised me. I’ve done my best to turn my lil village into a Narnia so one day I shall go back there.

[image error]I have lived my life knowing I won’t make old bones and doing nothing at all to prevent that prediction. I smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish and accepted every dangerous bet made to me. I’ve flown planes, ridden motorbikes, abseiled, wind-surfed, competed in three-day events (horses) and generally done all I can to get dropped on my head. It started at the age of 15 when I when feet first down a cliff, landed on a rock, buggered my spine and fractured my skull which all resulted in a three-day coma which was good practice for the three-week one I had after my last serious motorbike accident, where, of course, I also landed on my head.

I will be reaping as I sowed and…know what? It’s fine. I could have been careful and good, not lived aboard a boat or chased my dreams around the world but it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun, I wouldn’t have learned as much and therefore…I have no regrets. I’ll leave as I’ve lived, maybe not a Hell’s Angel anymore but one helluva Hell’s Granny.

 

This is What Anxiety Feels Like

A brilliant summation by Lisa. I know how it feels xxx

The Last Krystallos

Many people feel anxious, but what does an Anxiety Disorder feel like?

I’ve suffered with an anxiety disorder since I was a child, and for many years I just thought I was a worrier, and I always felt there was a derogatory association with being a worrier.

Many people believe you need to have reasons to be anxious.

We all suffer anxiety: going into an exam, taking your driving test, being late for work, when you’re about to give a presentation, travelling, and more. You get that flutter of worry in your belly, nausea, light-headedness, fear of the unknown, fear of failure… but the difference between GAD, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, and situational anxiety is that those symptoms and emotions go away. You know that your exam will be over in a few hours, your driving test will be complete, you’ll get to work, that presentation will be finished…

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A Grim Story

You may have heard of the tales collected by the brothers Grimm but this isn’t one of them.

Once upon a time there were three brothers. Not being a fairy tale, you will understand that there were no magic beans, cows or valiant princes involved. They were just three ordinary sons. The younger two left home as soon as possible, got together with various women and sired many grandchildren.

The oldest, who was conscientious and kind, got left behind to care for his old mother. He did not marry or have children, which was a shame, as he might have been quite good at either. However, he stayed at home, pursued his career and paid the mortgage, giving over his life to caring for Mother.

Come the time when their mother became elderly and sick, the older brother had to look after her. For a long time he did nothing else, until his best friend who lived in a foreign land, told him that he should seek help.

Finally, in her last days, there was help for Mother and the eldest son could stop taking time off work to care for her, which was a very good thing as his employers were not kindly barons who made allowances for men with sick mothers but only for women with sick children. (You remember that this is a modern, not a fairy tale).

When the old lady was very ill, the best friend, who happened to be a Black Shaman, crossed the seas to [image error]help the older brother. She offered her support both physical, emotional and magical when the old lady died. The younger sons were still nowhere to be seen but they began asking about her valuables. Before she was laid to rest, one staked his claim on her jewels, which made the Black Shaman very angry indeed.

Resting a hand on the older brother’s shoulder she asked him gently “What was the worst thing you had to do for your mother before she died?” The grey-haired man didn’t want to say but as the Black Shaman knew all about death she suggested,

“Was it clearing up her shite? Having to get your hands dirty in your own mother’s excrement when she fouled herself?”

He sighed deeply, shuddered and nodded.

“I thought so.” She replied. “It happens to everyone at the end. They crap themselves and become as little babies so their offspring have to repay the service the parent did them in their youth. So I suggest, if you brothers want her jewels, you tell them to come here, as the law of the land dictates that only you three can inherit her wealth. Pile her valuables in a bucket, fill it with excrement and invite them to dive in and help themselves, If you don’t feel strong enough to do it yourself, allow me to help. I am, after all, a bringer of justice and karma.”

The older brother, being the kind, gentle soul he was, appreciated the joke but didn’t feel up to doing that so his dear friend took the task from him and said,

“Either give me the jewels and I will immerse them in shite, or offer your brothers their value in money, telling them what the other option is. I am sure they will see sense. Paying to travel to guddle about in pooh not being a nice choice, they will cede.”

MORAL

Pick your relatives wisely and your friends even more so. If you are fortunate enough to be friends with a Black Shaman, take their advice, for they know human nature very well.

 

 

Launch party for Never on a Saturday

Hello Sue, Hello Guests!

Thank you for inviting us over for your launch party. We wish this book as much success as all your other ones,which we loved.

Us? Well, I’ve brought two lovers from my own books Alchemy and Shaman’s Drum. They were fascinated by the idea of love across time. Let me introduce them to you….

IAMO Greetings, Readers and Scribes. I am Iamo a priest of the Mother Goddess who happens to go adventuring, much against my better judgement, to fight demons. I love reading. I studied Ancient and Modern Religions at University under Professor Adrian Oliver. Scribe Sue is a good friend of our Scribe Ailsa so I have met her several times and stand in awe of her enormous knowledge of so many things.

RIGA Wotcher. I’m a Black Shaman Assassin (no, not a rare job for a woman in our day) so Iamo and I are sidekicks in our quests to rid the New World Order of demons.

We shouldn’t have become lovers so we sympathise with the characters in this book. It was forbidden by both our orders, being from the opposite side of the tracks religiously, but at least we are both from the same era.

IAMO Yes, we were severely punished for that crime, even being imprisoned for a long time but we are together now. I have to admit that although Riga is of my era, I had to get used to her shape-shifting. It’s rather unnerving to come home and find that your partner has become a cat (black, obviously). The first few times I didn’t realise and ran around shouting for her, while treating the cat like a stray, giving it lots of treats and tickling its tummy. It was only when a very human giggle came out that I cottoned on!

RIGA (laughing loudly) Well I don’t like fish!

IAMO So our love life hasn’t exactly been plain sailing. Time travel? I suppose the nearest I came to it was when a student I found I could put myself, in my mind, back into the centuries we were studying. Understanding the religious beliefs and mindset of a people, helps enormously in understanding them completely. After long days of studying one period I would dream that I was living then. That was quite an experience.

RIGA I talked to Scribe Sue about my experiences because, being a Shaman, I can travel between worlds in trance. I have gone back in time but not very far. Usually I only go to investigate a case I am taking on. We do justice so I will cast myself back to see the truth of a story before accepting the job of revenge on someone who has been accused of something vile. Denouncers tend to exaggerate and I often find the truth is quite the opposite. Then I like turning the tables and visiting bad karma on the complainant.

Thanks dear friends, Ailsa here again. So. We have a time-travel question for you, Readers. Answer in the comments section and Sue will pick a winner. Prizes are an e-copy of Alchemy or Shaman’s Drum. Two winners.

Question – Alchemy is Book One and Shaman’s Drum is Book Two but which one was published first and when?

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A LITTLE LUCK, A LOT OF FATE

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BY LINN BY HALTON

Genre: Romance/contemporary women’s

Release Date: 23 October 2016

Publisher: Choc Lit UK

When destiny calls, you need to pick up …

On the surface, Kristi Danielson has it all. She’s lifestyle coach to the rich and famous, has a bestselling book to her name and is described by her fans as “the veritable Queen of how to lead a fulfilling life”.

But the harsh truth is that Kristi has never practiced what she preaches. Her home life is a mess, her relationship with artist boyfriend, Tom, not much better – and now she has to redeem herself before all is lost.

At her wit’s end, Kristi is driven to seek out the help of Patrick Blakeslee, a tarot card reader and psychic medium, in an attempt to make sense of the mounting panic she’s feeling.

But Patrick’s visits have an unexpected effect on Kristi, leaving her with more questions than answers – and a life-changing decision to make.

BUY LINK

http://smarturl.it/ALittleLuckALotFate

EXCERPT

I’m the middle child, sandwiched between my eldest brother, Luke, and the baby of the family, Drew. My mother had three brothers and so, as the only two daughters in two generations, we were always in the minority. That rather tends to shape the way you look at things and there are only two ways it can go. Either you are the one whose voice is seldom heard above the sea of testosterone around you, or you make yours the loudest voice of them all. You become the organiser; the one who leads – in short, my brothers accepted that I was in charge. Maybe it was because I had inherited the bossy gene, if such a thing exists. But, from a tender age, what I lacked in practical knowledge, I made up for with sheer common sense and the dubious ability to be believable.

I say dubious, because I learnt that I had the power to organise and control what went on around me. I was a natural. What surprised me was the fact that people around me loved being told what to do. They sought my advice, opening up to me and looking for guidance at every step of the way. As a teenager I felt I had a heady power and it gave me a sense of confidence. At the time I didn’t understand that it was something to be treated with respect and a healthy dose of reality. People simply lapped-up what I told them and that, I suppose, was the blessing that has become a curse. When people are unsure about what to do next they look around for someone strong to advise them. In their desperation they are grateful and comforted and the person delivering the advice? Well, it’s addictive and each little success elevates you in their eyes, as well as in your own.

The truth is that I am supremely confident when it comes to organising other people’s lives. I’m extremely proud of the fact that I can inspire others and encourage them to develop their full potential. When it comes to my own life, it’s held together with the emotional equivalent of string and Blu-tack. Simply put, I’m a fraud.

Money and fame go hand-in-hand and there isn’t a chat show worth mentioning that hasn’t featured me at some point in the last few years. My name constantly crops up around the world and even in countries like the US, Japan, and Sweden, it’s instantly recognisable. Grab Life and Run With It is in its fourth season in the UK and I’ve just signed a contract for a further six episodes. My fan club is full of hopeful people, eager to share each of their milestones on Twitter, as they follow my celebrated Twelve Steps to Finding YOU plan.

To the world it appears I have all of the trappings of success. The harsh reality is that I spend my time trying to cover the tracks of a life that has no balance. All I have is my work – there is nothing else.

ABOUT LINN B HALTON

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Bristol-born Linn B Halton lives on the edge of the small market town of Cinderford, in the Forest of Dean, in the UK.

“I’m a hopeless romantic, self-confessed chocaholic, and lover of strong coffee. For me, life is about family, friends, writing … and house renovation! Oh, and the occasional glass of White Grenache…”

An Amazon UK Top 100 best-selling author with A Cottage in the Country in November 2015, Under The Stars also became a best-seller in November 2016. Linn’s novels have been short-listed in the UK’s Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards. Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award.

Linn writes chick lit, women’s contemporary fiction and psychic romance for Choc Lit, Harper Impulse and Endeavour Press.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LinnBHaltonAuthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LinnBHalton

Goodreads Author Page: http://ow.ly/pv6N306918g

Website: http://linnbhalton.co.uk/

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/linnbhalton/

CONTEST – OPEN INTERNATIONALLY – No Purchase necessary

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Three signed copies of A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love paperbacks.

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4be03017210/ ?

Sally Cronin, Eating, Writing

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How wonderful to be here in your part of the world Ailsa.. We traveled through France a lot when we lived in Belgium and then moved to Spain and we have very happy memories of staying in some lovely villages and also really old inns on our travels.

Before we get started do you mind if I have a cuddle with this gorgeous pooch as I am feeling broody. We won’t be getting our new adoptee (of undetermined heritage) until the spring when I have finished some traveling.

Please do – Lily is a cuddle-tart, she will get on any knee and roll over for tummy tickles at the drop of a hat.

A coffee would be great and actually, would love one of those almond croissants. They are calorie negative because they go down so fast! I hope you will have one too and I don’t like to eat alone.

Fresh coffee on the stove and the pastries are from our local mad baker, Pierre, who acts out Shakespeare with me when I shop! So, of course, I’ll dig in, would be rude not to! 

How did you become such a guru in terms of diet and exercise? I know your advice and your book worked for me.

I think I am more a survivor of every crackpot, scientifically proven and celebrity diet out there. I must have tried them all including the one which gave itself the name of one of our top universities. I lost 40lbs in three months and put them back again with another 20lbs in the following three months. You cannot starve the body it will just bounce back and add a few pounds in case there is another famine down the road.

After 30 years of yo-yo dieting which had turned into a food addiction – any food, anytime – I realised twenty years ago that I am the mistress of my own body and the food that I take in. I chose the ‘cook from scratch’ approach and now eat across all food groups with minimum industrial intervention and in moderation. I reinforced this by doing a diploma in nutritional therapy which led to me working with others who were in the same situation over the last 18 years. I find the body and its complex operating systems fascinating. And I am still learning.

I am glad you found my book useful. What have you taken from it that has made a difference?

I’ve realised that by skipping meals (a hangover from anorexia in childhood) was making my body fear starvation and hang onto all the calories it can. I also took on board the fact that butter is good which is grand because I hate the use of palm oil in marge. My last blood test was fabulous. I’ve altered my eating habits permanently – little and often with a lot of variety works best for me. Yes, my body, my food, my decision. That is what most people don’t understand about healing – your body is your best friend to whom you don’t listen nearly enough! 

You are here today to talk about your new book which came out in early February . Would you like to let us have a bit of a peek at it?

I am pleased to see What’s in a Name out in the world as I put any publishing on hold last year as we moved from Spain back to Ireland and took on the renovation of our new home. I wrote a number of stories on my blog under the same title. Using the letters of the alphabet I wrote a female and male story about life, love, [image error]revenge, ghosts and retribution… You know family drama!

For example, Anne adapts her name because she associates it with pain, Bryan who comes from a long line of circus performers whose roots lie in the caves of ancient man. Celia who leaves the convent and religious life after many years and Ifan who learns about life and death.

The first volume has twenty stories from A – J.. With a second volume planned for later in the year.

Is there a story behind your name Ailsa?

Yes. My mother wanted to call me Helen but her sister of the same name vetoed it. Ailsa is Scottish and most English people can’t pronounce it properly. It was my father who came up with it. I loathe it because it was my “naughty” name, only used when I was bad. I prefer Otter or Ottie although I answer to Cam, short for Cameron, my middle name. In France, I have been Elise for twenty-five years,  which I adore!

Coming up this year?

I am going to focus on author and blog promotions on the blog in the coming twelve months and I hope to see you in the Cafe and Bookstore Ailsa for an Author Book Reading.

Oh that will be super! 

If I did have an actual cafe and bookstore I would definitely hold book signings and author readings and I decided that there was no reason not to do them in the virtual world.

The interviews will be interactive in as much as the readers get to add questions for the author in the comments section. I am doing a similar format for bloggers and other creative people such as singers and photographers… I wanted to get everyone involved.

I believe as an author that it is so important to be part of a supportive community. When I began blogging in late 2013 it was very much a shot in the dark and I had no idea the incredible people that I would meet along the way… I think you were one of the first to adopt me Ailsa and I am very grateful. And that it has migrated to the other social media sites where we can keep up with each other.

I have a few more books on the way. Both non-fiction and fiction and I also intend to do a great deal more reading this year too. I have a TBR that is groaning with books that I buy and then squirrel away for the dormant months of winter. Trouble is they never seem to arrive. But this year I will be doing less hoarding and more consuming.

Another benefit of blogging and meeting so many authors in our online world is the access to all the different genres that perhaps we have not tried before. I find it very exciting and look forward to where technology takes us next.

I think that I have probably talked enough about myself for the time being.. I cannot thank you enough for asking me to drop in for morning coffee.

I think that this pooch needs a walk now… And having managed to snag two of those almond croissants I probably need one too… Perhaps we could take a stroll down by the river and enjoy your wonderful French spring.

I’m getting my coat and I’ll show you my best tree friend, Uncle Walnut. 

Bio.[image error]

My name is Sally Georgina Cronin but you will find that I have had a number of variations online and for my books including Georgina Cronin and Sally Cronin.

After working in a number of industries for over 25 years, I decided that I wanted to pursue a completely different career, one that I had always been fascinated with. I began studying Nutrition and the human body twenty years ago and I opened my first diet advisory center in Ireland in 1998. Over the last 18 years, I have practiced in Ireland and the UK as well as written columns, articles and radio programmes on health and nutrition. I published my first book with a Canadian self-publisher in the late 90s and since then have republished that book and released eight others as part of our own self-publishing company. Apart from health I also enjoy writing fiction in the form of novels and short stories.

Main links

Amazon author page for books: https://www.amazon.com/author/sallycroninbooks

Blog: https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sally.cronin

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sgc58

He’s coming to…

Deaths in the family are never convenient. Most especially if they are distant relatives but to whom one owes respect and living on the other side of the world.

Great Aunt Sarah had moved back to the States to be near “the boys” a long time ago, leaving me in rural isolation in France which suited me just fine. We aren’t a close family, as happens when some emigrate and others, like me, tend to the hermit persuasion. My only companion was Woody the golden labrador.

It’s a common mistaken assumption that all witches’ familiars are cats. Many are, of course, and all of us have one but mine is Barker Woods. I’ve also had a snake, a bat, and a few mice but then even by witch-standards, I’m a bit of a fruit-loop. Nobody in the village would take him in, although, as village-witch, I command a lot of respect, they are terrified of big dogs. Mr. Barker Woods is a naughty old lad and tends to make himself the size of a St. Bernard when faced with fear. He finds that funny and I haven’t discouraged him because, to be honest, I find grown men cowering behind half-shut doors hilarious!

What would I do? I couldn’t take him to America with me. There wasn’t time to get the visas, paperwork, injections etc done and …

Bash! He dropped a large piece of firewood at my feet which he had picked up by the stove. You know that intense stare dogs do when trying to make you understand, you thick, stupid, witless human? Yes, that one.

If I hadn’t had a mug of tea in my hand I’d have slapped my own forehead but Woody saved me the trouble by patting my knee condescendingly. “There, she’s finally got it.”

So that is why a large elderly lady bustled through Customs in Boston with a backpack containing a piece of wood with what looked for all the world like a dog’s face on it. A labrador, to be precise. The Customs officer was a woman and if I judged correctly (OK I peeked in her head) a Native American. I explained about my dead Great Aunt and that this was a sacred family object that had to be present at her funeral. She understood. She too patted my hand. I was doing well for patting. The wood trembled in my hand as if Mr. Barker were giggling.

Absolutely nobody was surprised to see us at the funeral, even though I had disguised Mr. Barker as a “seeing eye” dog and wore sunglasses. He’s very good at that.

And, as they say, after that we went home for tea and glad to be there.