Harmony Kent's Blog, page 138

Concordant Vibrancy 2 is coming!

Hello and Welcome to the celebration of the “Concordant Vibrancy 2: Vitality” Cover Reveal. Before we show you the cover, first we’ll tell you a little bit about the book.

BLURB:

All Authors Publications & Promotions is pleased to bring you the second installment of the Concordant Vibrancy collection, “Concordant Vibrancy 2: Vitality”.

This compilation of short stories and essays demonstrates the fusing of talented and sui generis works by eight amazing writers. Contrasting in genre and writing style, each piece is a wonderful representation of the theme question; What moves your spirit?

Enjoy “Concordant Vibrancy 2: Vitality” and see what moves your spirit.

“Concordant Vibrancy 2: Vitality” is coming soon, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to grab a copy of this collection upon its release! Now, without further ado, we would like to introduce you to the Cover of “Concordant Vibrancy 2: Vitality” a collaborative work by the members of the All Authors P&P Family.

Take a sneak peak at the “Concordant Vibrancy 2: Vitality” Teaser Trailer.

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RRBC Pay it Forward Week! Welcome to Shirley Slaughter!

RRBC Pay it Forward Week!

Hello everyone!

I am delighted today to host the final of two authors I will spotlight, promote, and propel this week as part of the RRBC Pay it Forward Week. Where blog hosts support one author per day, and don’t promote themselves or anyone else at all for that whole day. For more information, or to sign up for future Pay it Forward weeks, please click HERE. Okay, I’m sure you’re all dying to know more about my author of the day today …

A HUGE warm welcome to Shirley Slaughter! Shirley is a supportive member of RRBC, as well as a talented lady! So, lets all please give her as much support as we can today!  

Shirley has been a member of RRBC just about since time began, lols. And I’m thrilled to promote her on my blog today. I’ll let Shirley tell you about herself in her own words:

My name is Shirley Harris-Slaughter and I’ve been a published author since 2007. My life plans never included becoming a writer. I was urged to write when I realized there were things going on around me, such as my community being shut down everywhere I looked and yet it seemed no one was interested in preserving our history. I never dreamed that I would be the “chosen one” to take on that task, but I was, and so after much research, sleepless nights and being shunned by those who didn’t want me to tell this story, OUR LADY OF VICTORY, THE SAGA OF AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITYwas born. Something that started out as just a timeline of events to honor the pioneers of this West Eight Mile Community, turned into a full-blown narrative history.

Like most Indie authors, I was struggling to get even a little recognition in an already over-crowded field. And then, I happened upon the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB where I served for a short while on the Governing Board. This club is all about supporting and helping authors. RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB is the brainchild of Founder & President, Nonnie Jules. She took the time to read my book and gave it an honest review. Since becoming a part of this awesome organization, I have been blessed with many opportunities which further profiled and brought recognition to my book. I have had such honors as being: the President’s Pick in the online Newsletter, a “WHO’S ON THE SHELF” Interview by Nonnie Jules, a #PUSHTUESDAY win and a week-long “SPOTLIGHT.”

Aside from being an active reader and writer, I am also a community-activist and from time to time, I lend my name to petitions to stop something or another, or I may even pick up the phone to call my elected Representatives, if that’s what it takes to get something accomplished. My last campaign is about the potholes that are driving us crazy here in Michigan.

Shirley’s first book:

OUR LADY OF VICTORY, The Saga of an African American Catholic Community is a compilation of memories, records, photos and interviews. The author recalls growing up in the legacy of Mother Anna Bates.

Follow the tale of the infamous wall…built to separate blacks from white residents and how it almost impeded the development of the area. It’s the story of a thriving Catholic community in spite of regressive government policies; on the verge of developing strong Catholic roots but doesn’t quite make it.

This is the Saga of an African-American Catholic Community. Don’t run from the information housed inside the covers of this book because the mere mention of black and white being divided makes you uncomfortable. Run towards this historical narrative because, whether black or white, yellow or brown, if we don’t know the history, we are surely destined to repeat it! I dare you to read this book and walk away unmoved!

Shirley’s latest book:
Imagine experiencing emotions that have you questioning your sanity. Your body gets overheated at the least bit of excitement and you scramble to find a fan or some air. Or you find yourself in the throes of a panic attack and can’t understand how to shut it off, so you are filled with anxiety wondering when the next one is coming. What if every time you take a drug you experience side-affects that you are warned about on the label?

The title was conceived in my mind after I thought over all the situations I had found myself in, getting out of them, and the affect all of this had on my overall physical and mental well-being.

Crazy! Hot! And Living On the Edge!! Is the True Story of My Upside Down Life!

Find out more about Shirley on her Website! and http://rememberourladyofvictory.com/

On Twitter @sharrislaughter

And Facebook!

Shirley’s Amazon Author page is HERE, and her 4Wills Publishing Author page HERE.Rave Reviews Book Club

 

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Spaded Truths 2: Life-O-Suction

Blurb:

This is not your average bowl of Alphabet Soup. Substitute the broth with Beliefs and the meatballs with tinges of Controversy.

Now, attempt to take a spoonful into your mouth. Does it sting your bottom lip and the tip of your tongue? Does it feel too hot for you? Do you know this, yet want to have more?

Excellent!

Indulge in Spaded Truths: Themes and Proclamations—a delectable mix of creative uses of the letters A-Z with social and political viewpoints from the twisted mind of Queen of Spades. This dish is engineered to provoke multitudes of reactions to reach the ultimate pinnacle: mental stimulation and satisfaction.

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Blurb:

Truth has no expiration date.

A second helping of Spaded Truths has arrived in the form of Life-O-Suction. Seasoned with a rich blend of prose with poetry, this follow up explores the human condition with a simmering of stimuli that lingers long after one has reached the end.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2f7zl...]

Note: Both books in the Spaded Truths collections have content which may not be suitable for those under eighteen.

Also, from now until the end of 2015, the electronic version of “Themes and Proclamations” will be at a discounted price to celebrate the release of “Life-O-Suction”.

To connect more with Queen of Spades and her Verses of Sovereign Diction, please visit her at these locations:

A Queen’s Ramblings

Facebook Author Page

Twitter @authorqspades

Amazon

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RRBC Pay it Forward Week! Welcome to J Dylan Yates!

RRBC Pay it Forward Week!

Hello everyone!

I am delighted today to host the first of two authors I will spotlight, promote, and propel this week as part of the RRBC Pay it Forward Week. Where blog hosts support one author per day, and don’t promote themselves or anyone else at all for that whole day. For more information, or to sign up for future Pay it Forward weeks, please click HERE. Okay, I’m sure you’re all dying to know more about my author of the day today …

A HUGE warm welcome to J Dylan Yates! Dylan is a supportive member of RRBC, as well as a talented lady! So, lets all please give Dylan as much support as we can today!  

THE BELIEF IN Angels, Dylan’s debut novel, was written over the course of many years while she attempted a number of BFA-related jobs, including: waitressing, teaching, corporate training, real estate, nursing, interior design, directing, acting, producing, parenting, library science and reluctant housewifery.

Prior to publication, THE BELIEF IN Angels won the Alexis Masters Scholarship for Spiritual Writing at the February 2012 San Francisco Writers Conference as well as a Los Angeles Book Festival Award.

THE BELIEF IN Angels




Growing up in her parents’ crazy hippie household on a tiny island off the coast of Boston, Jules’s imaginative sense of humor is the weapon she wields to dodge household chaos. But somewhere between routine discipline with horsewhips, gun-waving gambling debt collectors, and LSD-laced breakfast cereal adventures, tragedy strikes with the death of her younger brother—a blow from which Jules may never fully recover.
Jules’ story alternates with that of her Grandfather Samuel, a man with a sad story of his own. Samuel, once called Szaja, is an orthodox Jew who lived through the murderous Ukranian pogroms of the 1920s and the Majdanek Death Camp—but whose survival came at a price that’s haunted him for years.

Meet Dylan on her website: https://www.jdylanyates.com

and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jdylanyates

and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Authorjdylanyates

You can find her Amazon Author page here: http://www.amazon.com/J.-Dylan-Yates/e/B00HMD2K2Y/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

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First Five Friday 12/11

Hello and welcome to First Five Friday!

When writing a novel, authors are advised to make the first five lines pop. These are what need to catch the reader’s attention from the get go. So, each Friday, I shall share with you the first five lines from a book that caught my attention, and then I’ll do a bit of show and tell, where I make up Five First Lines on the spot. Feel free to comment, and leave Five Lines of your own! If you have read a book where the opening lines impressed you, please do share! For any books I post on First Five Friday, you will find the UK Amazon link in the title link, and the US Amazon link by clicking on the book cover.

Last time, we looked at First Five Lines from Michael Lynes. This week we have the opening lines from Diary of a Christian Woman: How I used 50 Shades of Grey to Spice up my Marriage by author Rebecca Reilly.

My name is Phoebe. I married George in 1994. It feels cliche describing him by his job as an accountant, but that’s who he is. Cliches are cliches for a reason. George is fussy about details, extremely conscientious, and he gets more excited over commercials on the golf channel than at the thought of taking an exotic vacation with me.

These opening lines lay it all out for you. The final line of the five shows the state of their marriage so succinctly with the description of George and his delight with the golf channel! I love it. The rest of the book lived up to the promise of these lines, and continued the beautiful levity. I like, too, how the first lines are short and lead into longer lines as the writer pulls the reader in. I want to know more about Phoebe and George, about their world, and how they work through their obvious difficulties.

 

The best books lure you inside, and then slam the door shut behind you. 

Okay, time for me to write Five First Lines for today:

 

Why would someone unbury a dead body? More to the point, why would they bury the shovel? The shallow grave means the digger could easily have been a male or a female. The main question right now, though, is whether the burier is the same person as the exhumer. I wish I could be certain the corpse didn’t unbury itself, but I’ve learned better.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come lurk in my lair next Friday, where we’ll have more Five First Lines!  

Find Harmony’s books on Amazon UK and Amazon US

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Where Tomorrow Waits

Where Tomorrow Waits

BY DINA KA

 

Historical/Biographical Fiction

 

Reviewed on behalf of The Review Board by Harmony Kent.

 

I received a free PDF copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

 

In this book, the author tells a difficult story of a young girl thrown into adulthood far too young. Set in Cambodia, pre/during/post Khmer Rouge, it shows us all the horrors of war in gripping clarity.

The narrative is told in the first person, and is utterly believable. If you’re looking for an easy read, this is not the book for you. At a little over 400 pages, it is a lengthy read—yet every page gives you something to think about. We are shown rape, murder, genocide, and pain and suffering in all its many guises. We also discover courage, compassion, and the utmost bravery in the simplest of acts.

Even before the war, life for Dara was not all that it seemed, and some of these secrets haunt her all the way to a new life in a new country. Will Dara ever be able to face her inner demons? Or will they prove to be one straw too many?

Told through the eyes of a young girl, and then a teenager, it feels authentic throughout and shows the ordinary insecurities and self-doubt that we all go through as we search for our identity. These normal teenage troubles are then compounded by events far outside of Dara’s control, and at many points in the book I just wanted to give her a huge hug. Bravo to the author for making her so real—so human.

Despite going through the care and attention of an editor and proofreader, things have been missed, and the narrative would benefit from another go-round. Overuse of delaying devices such as ‘began to’ and ‘started to’ pepper the text, as does unnecessary usage of ‘own’. Spelling errors and punctuation hiccups are also frequent enough to merit a mention. All of this mars what would have been a top-star book for me.

Although a harrowing read much of the time, I found it a rewarding one with a well-rounded ending that tied all the many threads together. I give it 8 out of 10 TRB stars, which equates to 4 out of 5 stars on other rating scales. If you are drawn to historical or biographical fiction, then this is a book you will want to read.

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There is a Reaper

Book Review by Harmony Kent

There is a Reaper by Michael Lynes

5 Stars

There is a Reaper is a book about a five-year-old boy who develops JCML–an aggressive form of juvenile leukemia. But more than that, it is about his spirit. I discovered this author and this book from a blog tour, and then on a book club website, and from its title I knew this would not be an easy read. However, it was a rewarding one. I am so glad I bought this book and bumped it right up my To Be Read list.

Full of beautiful prose throughout, it offers a deep and insightful look into life, death, and the journey in between. The author is obviously well read, and this shows through wonderfully within his writing. Written mostly from the point of view of the father, the book also includes moving sections written from Mom’s perspective. If you’re looking for a book about this illness with an A-Z of treatments, you won’t find those within these pages; what you will find is a the celebration of a life and the love of a family.

I am humbled and inspired by the way Christopher’s brothers and parents handled this crisis, and how it drew them closer together where so many families are torn apart. This is a must read for everyone, but most especially for those who have suffered the pain of loss. The writing is honest and full of rich imagery. This is a book that offers hope, even in the face of defeat. I highly recommend this book.

Click on the book cover image to go to Amazon UK and find out more about this book.

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First Five Friday 6/11

Hello and welcome to First Five Friday!

When writing a novel, authors are advised to make the first five lines pop. These are what need to catch the reader’s attention from the get go. So, each Friday, I shall share with you the first five lines from a book that caught my attention, and then I’ll do a bit of show and tell, where I make up Five First Lines on the spot. Feel free to comment, and leave Five Lines of your own! If you have read a book where the opening lines impressed you, please do share! For any books I post on First Five Friday, you will find the UK Amazon link in the title link, and the US Amazon link by clicking on the book cover.

Last time, we looked at First Five Lines from Sibel Hodge. This week we have the opening lines from There is a Reaper: Losing a Child to Cancer by author Michael Lynes.

I don’t know why I’m writing this; it will likely never be read by any other person. I am doing it entirely for myself, in memoriam of a life well lived, a son sorely missed and greatly mourned. Some would say his life was too short, or that he never had a chance … oh what might have been … I say he lived his life as fully as any man woman or child on this Earth. It was his life, and it was complete, and it was perfect.

These opening lines strike me as deeply personal, and I feel an immediate connection with the narrator. Already, before he has even introduced me to his child or family, I feel like I know them, and I want it all to be okay, even though I know from just the title alone that it isn’t going to be. These first lines are engaging, honest, and flow beautifully. I want to read more.

 

The best books lure you inside, and then slam the door shut behind you. 

Okay, time for me to write Five First Lines for today:

‘I don’t do Halloween.’

‘Of course you do–everyone does Halloween.’

‘I don’t do Halloween.’

‘How screwed up are you?’

‘You’re about to find out, honey.’

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come lurk in my lair next Friday, where we’ll have more Five First Lines!  

Find Harmony’s books on Amazon UK and Amazon US

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First Five Friday 15/10

Hello and welcome to First Five Friday!

When writing a novel, authors are advised to make the first five lines pop. These are what need to catch the reader’s attention from the get go. So, each Friday, I shall share with you the first five lines from a book that caught my attention, and then I’ll do a bit of show and tell, where I make up Five First Lines on the spot. Feel free to comment, and leave Five Lines of your own! If you have read a book where the opening lines impressed you, please do share! For any books I post on First Five Friday, you will find the UK Amazon link in the title link, and the US Amazon link by clicking on the book cover.

Last week we looked at First Five Lines from Nonnie Jules. This week we have the opening lines from Look Behind You by Author Sibel Hodge.

Pain everywhere. My back, my wrists, my legs. Even my hair hurts. The worst of it is in my head. Hot, white shards of pain stabbing my skull.

These opening lines immediately grab me by the hair and yank me in. What I want to know is what awful situation is the character in? I don’t even know at this stage if the person is man or woman, and already I feel for them.  In just these five lines, the author has laid out the premise for the story and pulled the reader into Chloe’s world.

Other writing advice tells us that each chapter should be written as though it is the first chapter. So, this tells us that the first five lines of each chapter should be as compelling as the first five lines of the book. This author, in Look Behind You, didn’t fail to deliver. And here are five first lines from the beginning of a chapter near the end of the book:

Three things happen. I hear a sound downstairs. My heart stops. I freeze. ‘I know you’re here, Chloe!’

 

The best books lure you inside, and then slam the door shut behind you. 

Okay, time for me to write Five First Lines for today:

I hate tea. And you’re not everyone’s cuppa. Still, I crave you like I crave coffee. You set my heart racing, and flames fry my veins. How is it that you have no idea I even exist?

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come lurk in my lair next Friday, where we’ll have more Five First Lines!  

Find Harmony’s books on Amazon UK and Amazon US

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Special Guest: Author Ben Starling!

It gives me great pleasure to introduce Author Ben Starling. Author of the ‘Something’ series of books. Please give him a warm welcome!  

Daniel thought war was tough. That was till he fell in love.

What if it’s true that you can never really go home? Returning from a soul-crushing war, Daniel Dragan is determined to put the past behind him. But with his beloved uncle dead and the town’s economy in a slump, there may not be much to keep him in San Prospero, California.

That is till he is startled by veterinarian Willow Dixon at the roadside lookout above their hometown’s new factory.

A desperately needed job offer there may offer Daniel the chance he needs – but all is not as it seems at the factory and Willow, determined to save the inhabitants of her animal sanctuary, wants the factory’s operations stopped.

Sometimes the road home is neither the one we expect. Nor the one we left behind…

Something in the Air is the first short story prequel (others coming soon) in this soul-stirring series from Ben Starling. Something in the Water, a novel, will be released on January 21, 2016.

Ben Starling is passionate about environmental conservation and sport, both central themes in his work. His interest in marine life has taken him across three continents over the past three decades.

He is Oxford’s only ever Quintuple Blue (varsity champion five years running), was Captain of the university boxing team, and coached and boxed competitively until a few years ago. He is 6’3”and 185 lbs.

Ben graduated from Oxford University with a Master of Arts and an M Phil. He was born in the USA but has lived in the UK since childhood.

Connect with Ben – join him at

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