Harmony Kent's Blog, page 142
April 29, 2015
SUPPORTING AUTHORS: RRBC Bethany Turner Pay it Forward Week!
Hello everyone!
I am delighted today to host the second of five authors I am going to spotlight, promote, and propel over the coming five days as part of the RRBC BT Pay it forward week. Credit for this Pay it Forward idea has to go to Bethany Turner, who is a fellow member of RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB and such a supportive lady. She had the idea of supporting one author per day, and not promoting herself or anyone else at all for that whole day. Well, as RRBC is all about support, this was a huge hit, and we now have our very own RRBC Bethany Turner Pay it Forward Week! 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 who my author of the day is today …
A HUGE warm welcome to Liz Gavin! Liz is a supportive member of RRBC, as well as a talented author! Liz is also a volunteer on the Tweet Support Team of RRBC, which means she devotes her time every week to supporting fellow members and authors on Twitter. Not only that, but Liz is also a volunteer on the Governing Board of RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB! This means she devotes countless hours every week to the club and all its members, helping to ensure they have the best book club they could have. Liz really goes out of her way to support everyone. So, lets all please give Liz as much support as we can today! 
About Liz Gavin
Proud Rave Reviews Book Club Board Member
When Liz Gavin was in Second Grade – just a couple of years ago, really – her teacher told her mother the little girl should start a diary because she needed an outlet for her active and vivid imagination. She was a talkative child who would disrupt the class by engaging her colleagues in endless conversations. She loved telling them the stories her grandfather used to tell her.
Apparently, the teacher wasn’t a big fan of those stories, and Liz’s mother bought her a diary. She happily wrote on it for a couple of months. Unable to see the appeal of writing for her own enjoyment only, she gave up on it. She missed the audience her friends provided her in class. She went back to disturbing her dear teacher’s class.
Since then, she has become a hungry reader. She will read anything and everything she can get her hands on – from the classics to erotica. That’s how she has become a writer of erotica and romance, as well.
As a young adult, she participated in a student exchange program and lived in New Orleans for six months. She fell in love with the city and its wonderful inhabitants. NOLA will always hold a special spot in Liz Gavin’s heart. Nowadays, living in Brazil, Liz’s creativity has improved many times because it’s such a vibrant, gorgeous and sexy country.
Welcome to her world of hot Alpha males and naughty, independent women. Add a touch of the paranormal in the presence of some wicked souls and you’ll get the picture.
Sit back, fire up your eReader and enjoy the ride!
Liz Gavin’s books:
Liz is the author of many books, all of which can be found HERE.
Her most recent works are:
LUCK OF THE IRISH
Available here: AMAZON UK and AMAZON US.
Keira Ashe’s parents are great but her mother has overprotected her for years. Now, this twenty-two-year-old Bostonian has graduated from college and can go on a trip she has been planning for years. She fears her shyness may get in the way of her enjoying what could be a life-altering adventure. However, Keira feels her luck is about to change when she meets gorgeous bartender Declan Slane.
Declan Slane is twenty-six and works at a hotel bar in Dublin. He hasn’t been very lucky in his love life so far. Also, he has got a troubled past he has chosen not to revisit in order to keep his sanity. Because he isn’t looking for a girlfriend, Declan isn’t very pleased to meet a certain breathtaking American who walks into his bar one afternoon.
Get a taste of adventure and heartache as Keira spreads her wings and matures while she gets to know her great-grandparents’ home country – Ireland. Hold your breath when she faces tough decisions and dangers. Root for Keira while she weighs up the consequences of making love for the first time. Bite your nails when she comes across unforeseen threats.
Liz Gavin’s second full-length novel is hard to put down just as it is hard to pinpoint its genre. She has woven an intricate web around her characters that will leave readers breathless. In the sizzling concoction, this talented new author poured heart-warming romance, heart-stopping suspense, and a dash of heart-searching paranormal. Take your pick. Regardless of the literary genre you might favor, Liz Gavin’s writing will take you to a whole different side of it.
UPSIDE DOWN
Available here: AMAZON UK and AMAZON US.
Carol Anne Sullivan is a tough New York stock broker. She’s suffered enough in order to learn a hard lesson – never let love spoil her relationships. Her boyfriends know that rule from the start. She’s domineering and assertive but also faithful and fair while the relationship lasts.
Mark Aikens is Carol’s boyfriend. He’s been in love with her for a while but his submissive side hasn’t allowed him to rebel against her golden rule and to tell her how he feels. Fear of losing her forever might spur him into action.
Cindy O’Rourke has admired Carol from afar. So, she jumps at the opportunity to work for her idol. Little does she know, things will never be the same for her after that job interview.
Carol has been going through a rough patch: world economical crisis, dysfunctional parents, demanding clients, faultyequipment. Without much time for herself, her love life is suffering. So what is the big deal if she fantasizes about a new employee when her boyfriend, Mark, can’t give her what she needs? The big deal is – the new receptionist, Cindy, is a woman who threatens to turn her world upside down.
This is the steamy tale of an unconventional love triangle which should be read with an open mind and an open heart. Sometimes, love comes to our lives in unexpected ways but with such overwhelming power that the best course of action might be to surrender to it.
Liz also offers TRANSLATION SERVICES from English into Portuguese (or vice versa). If you’d like to take a look at Liz’s active and fun blog, please click HERE.
Liz’s website is HERE.
In addition to all of this, Liz is one of the hosts for the brand new RAVE WAVES radio show! You can catch past and present shows HERE.
You can also find Liz on Twitter: @LizGavin_author
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liz.gavin.54
And on RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB.
Very best of luck with all your writing endeavours Liz, and thanks for being such an awesome and supportive gal!
by 
April 28, 2015
SUPPORTING AUTHORS: RRBC Bethany Turner Pay it Forward Week!
Hello everyone!
I am delighted today to host the first of five authors I am going to spotlight, promote, and propel over the coming five days as part of the RRBC BT Pay it forward week. Credit for this Pay it Forward idea has to go to Bethany Turner, who is a fellow member of RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB and such a supportive lady. She had the idea of supporting one author per day, and not promoting herself or anyone else at all for that whole day. Well, as RRBC is all about support, this was a huge hit, and we now have our very own RRBC Bethany Turner Pay it Forward Week! 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 who my author of the day is today …
A HUGE warm welcome to Marc Estes! Marc is a supportive member of RRBC, as well as a talented author! Marc is also a volunteer on the Tweet Support Team of RRBC, which means he devotes his time every week to supporting fellow members and authors on Twitter. So, lets all please give Marc as much support as we can today!
Marc Estes
about the author
Accomplished writer, Marc Estes, is proud to present his award winning debut novel, Four Pieces For Power, Book One of the Vendicatori. Four Pieces For Power marks the first in a series of Vendicatori novels developed by Mr. Estes. He is a two-time winner of the Vermont Playwright’s Award for his plays, What Would Dickens Do?and Glass Closets. What Would Dickens Do? also won the 2012 Robert J. Pickering Award for Playwriting Excellence. His play, Gumbo (adapted from the short story by Charles Huckelbury) was a finalist in the 2011 Safe Streets Arts Foundation Short Play Competition and was presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. His play The Practice of Killing (co-written with Robert Johnson, and adapted from the short story by Mr. Johnson) has been published in the Spring 2013 edition of Tacenda Literary Magazine. In 2013 he was also awarded the Robert Chesley Award from the Chesley/Bumbalow Founation in Los Angeles and selected to receive the Artist in residence grant from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos New Mexico. His play Going Home was presented at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the Fall of 2014. His second novel, Rekindle the Flame, Book Two of the Vendicatori is scheduled to be released in Spring 2015. Estes is a native of New England and graduate of the University of New Hampshire.
Marc’s books:
FOUR PIECES FOR POWER: BOOK 1 OF THE VENDICATORI SERIES
Available here: AMAZON UK and AMAZON US
When mysterious strangers arrive at the home of Andrew Correo, they provide him with life changing news. He learns of the Vedicatori, a secret organization established by his ancestors, an organization he now has the chance to inherit control over. In order to gain this control, he needs to compete with Robert Stavero in a global scavenger hunt. They must search for four illusive crystals that, when brought together, will tell them their final destination. Also in Edson, Monica Correo is planning a wedding to her love, John Weaver. With the wedding so close to Halloween, the pair decide to have a masquerade ball for the wedding reception. It will be an event no one in Edson will ever forget. With just a clue and limited guidance, both Andrew and Robert set out on their secretive journey. For both, the path leads to mystery, suspense, and self-discovery. As Andrew looks forward to his future, while putting parts of his past behind him, Robert grows greedy and develops a love for deception and hate. The hunt brings them through the ruins of Teotihuacan to the Eternal City and its history, but who will have the cunning to come out on top?
REKINDLE THE FLAME: BOOK 2 OF THE VENDICATORI SERIES
Coming any day now!
As Andrew continues to delve deeper into the world of the Vendicatori, more secrets from his past shake his present. A mysterious woman has somehow escaped the Vendicatori compound. But were they holding her as a prisoner, or for her own safety?
The Stavero family is now even more focused on revenge and the downfall of the Correos. Magda Stavero takes the reigns and is ready to be more evil than Robert ever dreamed of being. With her granddaughter, Kayla, at her side, she is given the chance to infiltrate Edson from afar and begins to unravel her plan for vengeance.
Now John, a newly added member to the Correo family, is starting to ask questions as Andrew becomes more elusive. A recent clue leads him down a path he cannot return from. A path that may provide more questions than answers.
As Dominic and Ramos scramble to find their missing guest, she is about to arrive in Edson, and become a revelation that no one saw coming. Is she a friend or a foe? Will Dominic and Ramos find her before she reveals herself? Are the Staveros behind her “escape”, or are they merely using it to their advantage?
Not only does Marc write books, he also writes plays. To see some of his work, click HERE. Not only that, but he also offers merchandise in the form of T-shirts, mugs, sweatshirts and more, for those of you who love his writing enough to want to wear it! And, I must say, the imagery is awesome. Marc is one busy guy, because in addition to all of this, he also writes a blog–which, I must admit, he keeps up to date more than I manage on my own! (ha ha). To see what Marc has to say, check him out HERE.
Marc’s website is HERE.
You can also find Marc on Twitter: @Vendicatori33
As well as on RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB.
Very best of luck with your latest book release, Marc! And thank you for being such an awesome and supportive guy
by
April 24, 2015
Earth 8-8-2 Boundless Limits Blog Hop
Dear Reader, Writers and Precious Patrons,
All Authors Publishing House would like to bring you a Double Book Release of earth shattering proportions.
Are there any limits out there which are boundless? Two characters, two different stories of paranormal drama, put that to the ultimate test!
“Earth 8-8-2: The Genesis Project”
by
Y. Correa
Blurb:
Could Science Serve as Salvation?
One-fourth Human.
One-fourth God.
One-fourth Superhuman.
One-fourth Vampire.
For Dr. Scott, the combined strengths of each life form represent the answer to the onslaught of malice and tyranny plaguing his Earth. When his creation—Genesis—begins developing, the lines between scientist and father become blurred. Soon the time approaches where Genesis is expected to fulfill her purpose. Does she go along willingly, or will her rapid evolution obliterate everyone’s best laid plans?
“Boundless Limits: Transcendent Choice (Book One)”
by
Da’Kharta Rising
Blurb:
There’s Love … and then there’s Love Beyond Limits.
Felipe and Therice had a love that knew of no boundaries. When Therice and “Mama” lose their lives in a tragic car accident, Felipe has a gaping hole that just refuses to heal and Therice has a determination to see him again that just refuses to die.
Heaven feels anything but, when Therice discovers that spirits are prohibited from visiting loved ones after they have died. Sensing that her angelic guide Amare possesses empathetic traits, Therice develops a plan of appeal in the hopes she will see Felipe near the anniversary of her death.
Get Your eBook Copy Today!
Boundless Limits: Transcendent Choice Book One
Earth 8-8-2: The Genesis Project
Coming Soon to …
by
April 23, 2015
Heart of the Staff
Stone Heart
Book Three
Fuzz jerked awake to the sound of women’s voices, and at once a wave of white-hot fear surged through him. He could see their silhouettes in front of the doorway as they talked excitedly. He looked around wildly for a place to hide that he already knew did not exist.
“Right strange how we missed this passage before, Demonica.”
“Had to have been something to do with the light at the time. Shadows could do it, I’d think. The light’s different now.”
“Demonica!” thought Fuzz in utter horror. “This is far worse than I’d thought. At least the Heart is safe…for the moment.”
“You all keep quiet up here,” he scarcely whispered as he carefully rose to a stand. “unless you see things get out of hand when those women get in here, that is. If it looks
bad for me, you all get out of here as fast as you can. Go to the dragon caves, and stay there until you hear from me.”
One of the bats dropped onto his shoulder. “Fuzz, maybe it’s already bad for you,” he said, with a squeak like a fist full of marbles. “You look…contorted.”
“In what way Taflu?”
“Well, your face is flat, your legs aren’t right and you have on clothing.”
Fuzz felt his face, then looked at his feet. It was indeed as he was beginning to assume. He was no longer a bear. “My. These must have been what I was wearing when I came to find Gastro. Now that it’s all certain, it probably will be harder to get past the sorceresses,” he murmured. “Oh well. For good or ill, here goes.” He started for the pantry door.
“Just who the blazes are you?” said Demonica as she thrust wide her arms in the doorway, stopping Fuzz in his tracks.
“I beg your pardon, ma’am,” he said with a bow. “I thought these premises were abandoned. Had I any idea that they were indeed occupied by two lovely ladies, I’d never have come in uninvited. The place having so many bats gave me the idea that no one had lived here for some time.” He pointed back into the pantry.
Demonica carefully peered into the pantry to find that the cave was indeed full of bats. With a look of disgust, she raised her hands to scorch the pantry with wizard’s fire.
“Please, my lady!” said Fuzz in wide eyed alarm. “It might be rash. I see that you’re gifted with magic, but there’s a right sizable lot of lamp oil stored in there.”
“Take a look, Spitemorta!” barked Demonica.
Spitemorta looked resentful, but whisked past for a look. She returned at once. “He has it right. There are even barrels of the stuff in there.”
“Anything else?”
“Bats. Lot’s of those.”
Demonica gave Fuzz slit-eyed look and motioned him out of the pantry. Much relieved to have saved his pets, he did so willingly.
“Now,” she said, showing him to a seat at the table. “Who are you?”
“No one of consequence, ma’am. I’m a woodsman. My name is Thorn, Thorn Bushman. My cabin burnt to the ground last week, and since I’d come across this den when I passed through here not long ago, reckoning it to be abandoned, I thought of it at once, after the fire, don’t you know. So, here I am. That’s all. So now that I see how it all is, I’ll just offer you my apologies and go on my way, then…”
“Your fine gentlemen’s hunting attire is quite out of fashion, Mr. Bushman. It lacks codpiece and doublet,” said Demonica with a frosty hiss, as she traded looks with Spitemorta. “Now, who are you…really?”
Fuzz stood speechless.
“Are you deaf?” she shouted. “I just asked you who you really are!”
“But my lady, I’ve told you. I’m Thorn Bushman.”
“Thorn Bushman,” snorted Spitemorta, as Demonica studied his face. “What sort of name is that? Where are you from?”
Fuzz’s mind raced. Dare he admit being from Niarg? Dare he say he wasn’t? “I grew up in Niarg, but I left there over twenty years ago and haven’t been back since.”
“He sounds like he actually could have been from Niarg, ‘way back,” said Spitemorta.
“As if he’s been gone from there a good a long time…”
“Yes.”
“All right, Thorn,” said Demonica almost kindly. “Tell us again why you were nosing around in this cave. What were you looking for?”
“I wasn’t ‘nosing around,’ as you put it, my lady, and I wasn’t looking for anything, except for a place out of the weather until I could rebuild my cabin, which as I said, burnt down last week. With winter on its way, I figured that I could hole up in this cave and be right snug until spring. But now that I see…”
“Rustics can’t afford clothes like those, Mr. Bushman, and no one of substance would choose to dress so out of fashion,” said Demonica, “and there is one minor detail that makes your garments be no consequence at all.”
“What detail might that be, my lady?” said Fuzz.
“You’re a right handsome man, Thorn,” said Demonica, studying him minutely as she slowly circled him where he stood, “surely people have told you that?”
Fuzz stared at her.
“Nothing to say?” she said through an ugly smile. “Well, no matter. You are much too attractive not to have been told so. I think your beauty even surpasses that of my nearly departed husband.”
“So what might your husband be nearly dead from?” said Fuzz as he noticed how terribly dry his mouth had become.
“Demonica threw back her head in a seizure of laughter that stopped as suddenly as if it had been dropped and shattered upon the floor. “I’ll truly regret having to mar that beauty, Thorn. You don’t want that, now do you?”
Fuzz shook his head.
Demonica looked delighted. “Splendid. You know, it rained last night. Perhaps you can explain to me why one fresh set of unmistakable bear tracks leads to the door of this cave, while none leads away. You must’ve been here all night, since there are no tracks that you could possibly have made. Funny you didn’t see the bear come in. And Thorn, I have no patience at all, so I suggest you answer me now.”
Carol Marrs Phipps and Tom Phipps
Carol Marrs Phipps
and
Tom Phipps
Carol Marrs Phipps and Tom Phipps spent twenty years writing together and teaching on the Navajo, Apache, Hualapai and Paiute reservations in the Southwest before returning to their farm in Southern Illinois, where they now write epic fantasy full time. They have independently published seven books with more to come.
Links
Buy Links for The Heart of the Staff
Our Websites
Other Contact Info
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Car01am
Page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarolMarrsPhippsTomPhipps
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carol.phipps3
Follow on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Carol-Marrs-Phipps/e/B005HB8MC0
Follow on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/car01am/
Amazon Buy Page for all our books: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Carol+Marrs+Phipps+%26+Tom+Phipps
by
April 20, 2015
Celebrating Poetry as Love with Nonnie Jules
Thank you all for allowing me to celebrate INTERNATIONAL POETRY MONTH with you by sharing excerpts from my first co-authored poetry book, “IF ONLY THERE WAS MUSIC…” The Poetry of Forbidden Love. Here is a bit of the book’s introduction below:
“Ever read poetry that was so soothing, so mellow, and just so perfectly sweet, you felt it should have been a love song? “IF ONLY THERE WAS MUSIC…” is just that kind of poetry…but it’s also poetry written about forbidden love.
Back in the summer of 2014, I was approached by an up-and-coming author by the name of Giani Jordan. Giani said that he had been following my writing for over a year and was extremely impressed. He was reaching out to me because he wanted to collaborate on a poetry book. Well, since I didn’t know Giani and wouldn’t attach my name or my writing with just anyone, I asked if he would send me a few samples of his work, and he did. I was blown away by the intensity and the depth of this man’s writing, and wanted to know more about this person he clearly was in love with and was writing so fervently about.”
In summation, Giani was in love with a woman {Christine}, who belonged to another, and to make this situation even more complicated, he, himself was also involved in a relationship.
The “snippet” of poetry which you are about to read below, is one where Giani is sharing the pain of the distant love he shares with Christine and the fears that they both fret about each day. Take a peek:
“IT IS A HEARTACHE”
We are distant in miles
Not in our hearts
We long for each other, yearning, relentless as the waves…
It is a heartache.
“What is she doing now,” he asks.
“Is it a smile she wears, or a frown?”
Is this a heartache?
“Will he leave me?” she wonders
“Will he walk away from the hardship, the frustrations?”
She fears for her heart.
It is a heartache.
In the snippet below, the feelings of Christine are shared as she speaks about the reality of their “forbidden love.” Take a peek:
THE REALITY
Late night phone calls
Early morning wishes
For an empty house to hide in
To steal forbidden kisses.
Secret messages shared
Via email day and night
Wanting to stop this train wreck
Knowing it’s just not right.
But the heart loves who it wants
And the heart knows what it feels
It knows if it’s faux pas
And it knows when it’s real…
If you’d like to read the balance of these particular pieces, I invite you to pick up your own copy of “IF ONLY THERE WAS MUSIC…” The Poetry of Forbidden Love on Amazon. I’d also like to invite you to follow this tour in its entirety as each day, at each stop, you will find more and more of these love songs without music, and even more reasons to fall in love with your lover, and Poetry, again. If you aren’t in love when you start reading this book, you will go seeking a love afterwards.
Please visit my complete tour line-up HERE, and at each stop that you leave a comment (including this one), your name will be entered that number of times, into a random drawing for a $25 Amazon Gift Card!!!
Thanks to my awesome host for today and thanks for stopping by, dear Guests. I hope to see you every day throughout this amazing tour to help keep Poetry alive!!! Always remember, that Love IS Poetry…they’re truly one in/and the same.
Author Bio:
Nonnie Jules is a mom, a wife, an author and also President of Rave Reviews Book Club. Her passion is children and her advocacy lies in supporting others and encouraging others to do the same. She has authored other fine books such as: “The Good Mommies’ Guide to Raising (Almost) Perfect Daughters,” “DAYDREAM’S DAUGHTER, NIGHTMARE’S FRIEND (A Novel),” and “Sugarcoatin’ Is For Candy & Pacifyin’ Is For Kids!”
Although Poetry should be celebrated every day of the year, the month of April has been set aside specifically to lift it up , and so this is why Nonnie has embarked on this blog tour to keep it alive and bring awareness to the fact that Poetry is a great medium for release and expressions of all kinds.
PURCHASE LINKS:
THE GOOD MOMMIES’ GUIDE TO RAISING (ALMOST) PERFECT DAUGHTERS: www.amazon.com/dp/B00CP62O56
DAYDREAM’S DAUGHTER, NIGHTMARE’S FRIEND: www.amazon.com/dp/B00GLM2VVM
SUGARCOATIN’ IS FOR CANDY & PACIFYIN’ IS FOR KIDS: www.amazon.com/dp/B00IRIA014
CONTACT:
Twitter: @NonnieJules
Blogs:
www.BooksByNonnie.wordpress.com
www.Nonniewrites.wordpress.com
www.AskTheGoodMommy.wordpress.com
www.RaveReviewsByNonnieJules.wordpress.com
I loved this book! My FIVE star review for it is below. Seriously, you must go out and buy this book!
There is little I can say about this book … it speaks for itself. The title of the book says, “If Only There Was Music” … well, it makes its own music, and does so beautifully. It needs no instruments, as it has its own rhythm and percussion. I had read right through to the end before I even knew it. But I did know how it left me feeling. I noticed the goosebumps on my arms, and the hairs raised at the nape of my neck. I didn’t read this book … I felt it. Even if you think you don’t have a romantic bone in your body, this poetry will resonate with you at a blood and bones level. As soon as the paperback comes out, I’m buying that too, as this is one of those books I have to have on my shelves. It is difficult to believe that the two authors have not shared a “forbidden love”, but that is indeed the case. They have collaborated magnificently to bring you the joys and pitfalls of long-distance love from both “Her” perspective and “His.”
by
April 17, 2015
Joy Lo-Bamijoko and her 4Wills Publishing Blog Tour!
Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko on her 4WillsPublishing blog tour! Joy really is a special lady, who not only has a large heart, she also has a story to tell … Take it away, Joy!
Joy’s Bio
Life at the University of Lagos (Unilag):
When I was hired as Lecturer II by the University of Lagos in April, 1975, I applied to Radio Nigeria for a transfer to Unilag, but was denied a transfer. My then boss vowed that the only way I could leave was to resign. He was shocked that I could get a job at the University with what he believed was an inadequate qualification. Only God knows what else he did underground to stop my getting the job.
However, my first two years at the University were good. My colleagues were happy to see me join them. I had already made a name for myself as Joy Nwosu, the Voice. Ayo and I teamed up for his and my concerts. Then Akin Euba joined us. He came in already a professor. I believe that was the deal he made for taking him from the University of Ife to the University of Lagos. I was happy when he joined us, and was planning for the great things we could do together. I loved all my colleagues because they were all great men in music; Laz Ekwueme, Ayo Bankole and Akin Euba. I was honored to be among them.
The same year Akin joined the University; rumors started filtering in that I may not be qualified to be a lecturer at the University. These rumors, I learned later were coming from my colleagues at the Radio station. A top professors at the Faculty of Arts started putting pressure on Ayo and Akin to expose me. Laz was considered my mentor, the one instrumental in getting me hired, so he was excluded, but he let me know what was going on.
At the time, we had a wonderful man at the helm of affairs at Unilag, The Vice Chancellor, Professor Ade Ajai, may God bless him. I went to him to complain about the rumors, and to tell him that I was ready to go to the US for my Ph.D. to stop the rumors. By this time, Laz had also become a professor. So Professor Ade Ajai suggested to me that I should do my Ph.D. at Unilag, under the supervision of the two professors of music that we had. Prof. Ekwueme was doubtful about the outcome, but Professor Euba was blunt and did not mince words with me. He told me that he did not believe that I was qualified to do a Bachelor’s degree, how much more a Ph.D. He followed up this claim by going to the Italian Embassy in Lagos with my Italian credentials translated by him, to get the Italian Ambassador in Lagos to agree with his translations, and to sign it as correct. He did not speak Italian, nor did he understand the Italian system of rating their credentials.
I came to know about this because, the Ambassador himself, who knew me quite well because I was a regular performer at the Embassy, sent his driver to Unilag to pick me up and take me to the embassy. There he told me about this man who came to him with a lady, and tried to talk him into signing his translation of my credentials and assessment as correct.
“Of course I refused to sign his papers.” He told me. “I told him that we have a department in Italy that deals with certificate assessments, that he should send his papers there for proper assessment if he really wanted to know the truth about my qualifications. Now, my advice to you is to leave that place if they do not believe in you.”
I left the embassy in shock and determined to follow the Ambassador’s advice. Luck was on my side. It was 1977, and FESTAC was just winding down, when the US embassy in Lagos offered a number of exchange visitor scholarships to some Nigeria artistes, and I was one of them. I took the opportunity of my visit to the US to apply and audition for schools.
Months after I returned from the US, I received a letter of admission to a doctoral program in music education from the University of Michigan. I was aesthetic! I first ran to Professor Ekwueme with my letter. After he read it he asked whether I have shown it to Professor Euba, I said no but that I was going to do so immediately. By this time Professor Euba treated me like a parrier. He will not return my greeting if I greeted him. I knocked at his door, opened and entered. I had a broad smile on my face, and he was scowling at me.
“I want you to see this.” I told him handing him the letter. While he read it I watched his face for reactions. He put the letter down quietly on his table, stood up and offered me his hand and said, “Congratulations colleague.”
I took my letter from his desk, folded it and walked out of his office.
I later learned that the witch hunt on me started from my former boss at Radio Nigeria. They wanted Ayo to be the one to flush me out, but Ayo refused. May his soul rest in peace.
From Mentor to Tormentor
Recently, one of my past students, who now lives in the US, came all the way from Philadelphia to be at my birthday celebration. Her first question to me was, “Ma, why did you leave? We all needed you and you left.”
I gave her a simple answer that time, telling her that I left because there was nothing else left for me to do. My department was scrapped and we were rendered redundant. My colleagues, some younger than me were dead, if I had stayed, I don’t know what would have become of me.
When I returned from Michigan in 1982, I looked forward to a peaceful tenure at my job. My credential wahala had been put to rest. I was also hoping that advancement in my job will be a done deal. I still performed with the Laz Ekwueme choral, but I took time off to set up my band and do my own thing. My work with the choral diminished as my work with my own band increased. I set up a children‘s choir also, and that kept me even more busy, so busy that I stopped singing with the choral.
Laz kicked the door to my office open a day after his choral sang at an embassy without me, and warned me that I was swimming in dangerous water if I missed another of his concerts. There and then I resolved to leave his choral for good. He developed the habit of not knocking at my office door, but kicking it open anytime he wanted to talk to me about his choir.
One time, he told me that I should know that the right hand should wash the left hand for peace to reign. I reminded him that when I returned from Michigan to Nigeria to do my field work, I almost jeopardized my field work because he insisted that I must travel with his choir to Ghana and to different state of Nigeria. I pleaded with him to allow me some time to develop my own credits so that I can be promoted. He told me that he decided who got promoted or not, and that it did not depend on how much credit I can accumulate, but on how well I serve him. My God! I could not reason with the man.
Anyway, I distanced myself from him even further, minded my own business, and worked hard to write and get published. When I thought I was ready to present myself for promotion, I sent in my application, and copies of my work. He laughed at me and responded with a very denigrating memo in which he trivialized all my work, then he personally brought me a copy of his memo, and told me as he left that unless I did as he said, I should forget to ever be promoted.
I read his memo, went home and prayed. I placed the memo on my Bible and asked God to tell me how to respond to it. The next morning I was inspired to write a rebuttal that was so powerful that the then Dean of Arts decided to take up my case. He did and got me promoted. God bless you Prof. Ashiwaju.
With my promotion to Senior Lecturer, the battle ground was drawn between me and my mentor. The morning after the news of my promotion, he came to my office in his usual way, and with a wicked smile on his face told me that it will never happen again, and it never did. I did not wait for it to happen again. In the meantime, the authorities at the university were plotting the scrapping of the department he set up. When they succeeded, I left the country.
Laz could have done great things for music in Nigeria if only he had believed in people. He did not believe that anyone else after him could be called a professor of music in Nigeria. He was so short sighted, because today there are many professors of music, people he blocked from becoming professors for so many years. They had to destroy what he created just to get him out.
Copied from my e-mail
By telling me that it will never happen again, he meant that he will never again allow me to be promoted, and he kept his word. Years later, when I applied for Associate, he got the new Vice Chancellor, the late Professor Adesola, on his side, and that one decided to be on Professor Ekwueme’s side. When I complained to him about how Professor Ekwueme was blocking my progress, he told me to go and do whatever he wanted me to do, and to stop being assertive, that he did not like assertive women. He reminded me that he had four like me in his house. That was the last straw. I decided to leave. I asked for my study leave, which was over-due, and Professor Adesola refuse for me to go, so I went on my knees and prayed for God to help me. Not long after, a colleague ran to my office one morning to tell me that Professor Adesola had embarked on a tour of Europe and America. I quickly ran to the deputy who was acting for him and told him how Professor Adesola did not sign my papers before he left. The deputy looked at my letter, and said, “You are asking for three years, that’s why. If you ask for one year at a time, I will sign it for you. I ran to my office, personally retyped my letter, hurried back to the deputy and he signed for me to leave. I left the very next day. One month after my escape, I received another letter in which Prof. Adesola was furiously ordering me back, and threatening me with dismissal if I did not return. I sent him medical reports on my health to let him know that even if I wanted, I could not return.
I later learned that he took my case to the A&P, Appointments and Promotions, the commission that hires and fires, and tried to get me dismissed. Some colleagues who knew me and saw my name on the list of those to be dismissed, attended the A&P meeting to find out what my crime was. Not satisfied with his excuses, they dismissed the case. After spending the three years that the regulation permitted me, I returned with the plan of spending a year to tidy up things and retire, He refused to give me back my job, so I put in my retirement papers and left for good. I was allowed to retire only three years later, after Professor Adesola was disgraced out of Unilag. I heard that he later died.
Music Professors in Nigerian Universities
I just finished talking to Dr. Mereni who is now a professor of music at Unilag. His professorship was backdated to 2008. He told me that Mosun has retired, and gave me an update on all the other professors.
Professor Tony Mereni
Professor Richard Okafor of Enugu State University is now retired but is on contract with the same university.
Professor Idolor, I did not get his first name, is at Delta State University.
Professors Emeka Mbanugo and Dan Agu are at Nnamdi Azikiwe Univ. Awka.
Professor Onyee Nwamkpa, is at University of Port Harcourt.
My First Shot at becoming a Professor
I knew Vidal was a professor before he retired, I don’t know Adegbite very well, and is Omibiyi still at Ibadan?
You would think that as a woman, she would understand what we women go through at our universities. After twelve years as senior lecturer, I decided to go for full professorship. I applied, and was asked to supply three names and addresses of my referees. I chose her as one of my referees, and went to Ibadan to let her know that she is one of my referees. Mosun snapped at me, and asked me whether it is now usual that candidates should know who their referees are. I knew immediately that I had made a mistake. On the interview day, I saw myself in front of twelve professors, non was a music professor. Ola Rotimi was the one that Laz had suggested to interview me. He was not one of the names I submitted. He sat there and insulted me as much as he liked, and in the end I was told that that was all. No one else asked me any question, it was a farce. This was all towards the end of my years at Unilag, anyway.
After that farce, Laz decided to humiliate me further by putting his wife over me as my supervisor. We came to our departmental meeting one day and he handed us this elaborate time table in which every member of staff were to be supervised. He supervised everybody else, but his wife supervised me. I knew immediately that it was a gimmick, because the very next morning every copy of that time-table was gone. He had gone the night before to remove them from all of our offices. The gimmick was for me to see how little he thought of his wife by using her as an instrument to insult me.
On my Dissertation
There is something I think you should mention in the book. It is about my dissertation. Before I went to Michigan, I did an extensive research on Igbo folktales, with the intention of writing my dissertation on the importance of folktales and folk song in music education. When I arrived Michigan, in my excitement, I mentioned my plan to a fellow student, a Ghanaian, who was there before me, and had been struggling to get his proposal approved. He quickly stole the idea from me. So I had to go looking for another topic. I wanted my studies to have relevance with my culture, so I started praying, asking God to give me a topic. As I was praying, the Lord was pointing me to the huge book by Sachs & Hornbostel on “Instruments of of World. I was then taking courses in Ethnomusicology and so was familiar with the works of these two men.
I started taking a closer look, on their work on African instruments, and discovered that all African instruments were classified as idiophones. I disagreed deeply with this lumping together of instruments from the so-called developing world. But I could not attack Sachs & Hornbostel, giants in world music. So I decided to research how my culture, the Igbo culture, classifies music instruments and it was an eye opening experience. The Lord gave me everything I wrote in that book, it could not have come from me. The findings were such a bombshell that I had to change the Head of my doctoral committee, before I could go on with my dissertation.
As soon as I returned to Nigeria, I lifted the whole classification section of my dissertation and published it with Nigeria Magazine. I wanted my colleagues to see what I discovered. Of course, it did not go down too well with Laz. He quickly told me that Nigeria Magazine was not a scholarly magazine. The same year, African Music Magazine discovered my article, and requested and published it.
After Professor Nketia of Ghana, retired from Pittsburgh, Steve Rhodes came to my office one day and told me that he just returned from one day and told me that he just returned from America, and that Pittsburgh was looking for someone, an African, to replace Nketia. He asked me to apply. I was excited that he believed that I was qualified to go for that position, so I applied. I put Euba down as one of my referees. By then we were on better terms. I also put two of my professors from Michigan as referees. Euba was director of the Center, so I did not believe that he would be interested in the Pittsburgh job. But he was. Behind my back, he applied, and got his friend, the heavy weight Nketia to support him. That is how he got that job. He heard about it from me. I often wondered why Steve did not tell him about that job. I pretty kept to myself at Unilag, so I did not know Professor Adesola very well. I met him only once, and that was when I went to talk to him about the way Laz was treating me. He asked me in and listened to my story. At the end , he looked me up and down, and cursed me right out! That was when he told me that he had four like me at home, asked me to go and do whatever Laz wanted me to do, that he did not like ssertive women who want men to do as they wish, then ended with telling me to get out! After that, I wanted to leave but he would not let me. He wanted me to stay and suffer! That was Laz’s way of putting it. In the end, God intervened. In November, 1996 I was able to escape from them. When I returned after my leave of absence in August 1999, I tried several times to see him to get him to sign for me to start work. Before I returned, he had tried to get me fired, and failed. After trying to see him without success, someone told me that if I went to him office in the evening that I might be able to see him, so I went to his office that evening. I was at his office until 9:00pm that night waiting to see him. He knew I was there but he did not want to see me. About 9:30pm, I heard him ask his attendant whether that stupid woman was still there, when the attendant said yes, he left by the back door. I waited for him to leave. When the attendant came back from seeing him off, he told that oga had gone. “I know”, I told him, and I asked him whether he is sure he had really gone, that he is not still standing somewhere out there. When I got the assurance that he was gone, I left. A few days after that I left Nigeria for good. I just left with no plans whatsoever. I just needed to get away. When the head of your department and your Vice Chancellor team up against you, what option do you have left? It was only after I arrived US, one year later, because I spent a whole year recovering from the trauma I suffered at Unilag, that I started thinking and looking for what to do. Chinwa, poor soul! The last time I was at Unilag, he was still there. That was last year. I don’t know his situation. He joint Unilag with a BA in music, and an MA in Engineering. Because of his piano skills, he dazzled Laz during his interview, and he was appointed. Laz later discovered that his Masters was not in music, and his problem started from there. He remained Lecturer II while I was there and was never promoted beyond that.
I am still asking the Unilag authorities to correct my actual date of retirement, and they are still not decided on how to resolve the matter. You see, when I left in November of 1996, I left on a leave of absence, for which I was entitled to take three years. Because of my problem with the then VC, I could not get a renewal after my first year. I took it all the same, because the regulation allowed me to. The VC tried to get me fired for not returning after one year, and I followed the regulation strictly by sending him my health report. I was in a really bad shape at the time. According to the information I received, the A&P wanted to know what kind of leave I was on. When they heard that it was a leave of absence, they threw his proposal out. After my three years, I returned, but he refused to reinstate me so I left again.
When Professor Ibidapo Obe, the new VC finally awarded me my retirement, they decided to go by the one year leave that I was originally awarded, and not by the three years that I was entitled. I wrote and presented all the documentation to show that I followed the regulation and did not default even by one day after my leave, papers showing that I returned, that I notified the VC of my return, and had no reply whatsoever from him. In other words, I was asking them to start my retirement from November, 1999, and not from November 1997. We are now at an impasse, me waiting for their reply, and they waiting perhaps for my death. I have already instructed my kids that if I die before this is resolved, they should continue to pursue it even at court level. After all the nasty treatment I received, they have to also rub me of my entitlement?
My story is beginning to sound like a soap opera, but that is my story. I lived and survived it only because God was on my side.
For more information on the above, please check out the following:
Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko: The Saga of a Nigerian Female Ethnomusicologist [Kindle Edition]
Godwin Sadoh (Author)
Websites: http://sbpra.com/joylobamijoko/ Mirror of Our Lives …..
http://sbprabooks.com/JoyNwosuLoBamijoko/ Legend of the Walking…
Buy Legend…..from Amazon.Com:
http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Walking-Dead-Igbo-Mythologies-ebook/dp/B00JLYFCQS/
Buy the B&N e-Pub version at:-
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/legend-of-the-walking-dead-joy-nwosu-lo-bamijoko/1119171565
Buy Mirror of Our Lives…Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Mirror-Our-Lives-Women/dp/1450278965
Barnes & Noble Link
Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/UhSyMaUz0Uk
Link to my Blog: jinlobify.Com
FaceBook Link: https://www.facebook.com/joy.lobamijoko
Twitter Handle: @Jinlobify
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April 14, 2015
Supporting Authors: Into Ourselves by James Sinclair
What makes us human?
Where did we come from?
What will be our final destination?
Into Ourselves is an exploration into the evolution of man and the human experience. It tackles everything from Creation Theory, The Big Bang, Heroes, Myths, and Legends, Wars and Conflicts, our many and various religions, to the achievements of the human race. As well as taking a look at where we’ve come from, it also looks at space exploration and the possibilities for our future. This small volume brings you interesting information in nice, bite-sized pieces that are easy to digest. If you’ve ever wanted to know a little bit about everything, without having to study hard, then this little gem will not disappoint.
My Review:
Into Ourselves is an Exploration into the whole human experience. It covers ancient history, starting at the big bang … or was that creation? All the answers are here in this easy to understand book. It takes a look at man’s achievements over the millennia, and even where we might end up. With topics covering the ascent of Man, Religion, Science & Technology, Space exploration, Heroes & Myths, Explorers, Builders & constructors, Artists & Musicians, and Wars & conflicts, this gem of a book provides a little bit of information about a whole lot of living and life as we know it. What was great for me is that it does this without me feeling like I’m studying … instead, I found it a relaxed and easy, yet informative, read. 5 stars from me.
Amazon US Link if you’re interested in taking a closer look!
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April 11, 2015
Redeemer by Guy Brooke
RedeemerBy Guy Brooke
The continuing story from Mystical Mountain Magic – ‘Deceiver’, where foreign explorers in search of gold and the fountain of youth discover more than they bargained for: Leira, the Deceiver who’s crafted in gems and walks on three legs; Razor—her minion; giant eagles who guard Elysium Valley, and Igneous, the zany caretaker of the mountain, who nurtures millions of living-stones within the corridors of a magical volcano named Misty.
As explorers create mayhem on this continent, an infant girl – Mariah – is rescued and raised by the eagles and is commissioned by the mountain to restore Hope to a world without hope and save mankind from its disastrous effects before Leira can assassinate her.
My Review:
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Redeemer is the second in the Mystical Mountain Magic series. While it would be helpful to have read book one first, I feel this novel can stand alone as well. We meet Captain Erikson again, but this time he is alone, drunk, and a vagrant. He is tormented by the screams of the healing-stone he tried to steal in book one, and then a noseless man drags Erikson into facing the very thing he has been trying to run away from … the sentient mountain. What happens when eight men decide to try and tackle this living, breathing, and thinking mountain? We have plot twists galore in this book, and all of our favourite characters return. The ending is a nice surprise, and I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with in book three! A strong 5 out of 5 stars from me
Amazon.com sales link if you’re interested
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April 9, 2015
I’m On the Radio!
I’ve never done a radio interview before! But I survived LOL
Renee was such a great host!
Check Out Books Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with storiesfromunknownauthors on BlogTalkRadio
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April 7, 2015
The Darkest of Suns Will Rise
My Review:
This novel is set two-hundred years in the future and is written in a journalistic format. With this writer, every word counts, and he leaves you clues all over … so you have to be alert for them. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and it gave me a good dose of sci-fi and mystery all rolled into one. Mankind has come into contact with a pacifist Alien race know as the Prognosticate, and they are able to read our brain patterns. Not everybody wants to work with them, or with the AEN (Alliance of Earthly Nations), and the Orphanage is born … a loosely-knit group of terrorist cells who are all about sabotaging both the AEN and humankind’s Alliance with the Prog. This is one of those reads that keeps you turning the pages and has you greedily devouring every line. A strong 5 stars from me.
About the Book:
Two hundred years in our future, mankind has made contact with a nigh-omniscient, pacifistic alien race known as The Prognosticate. With the help of these extraterrestrial visitors we have been able to solve the problems of overpopulation and disease. The Earth is recovering from our impact and our civilization is in a state of prosperity, united under the Alliance of Earthly Nations. Peace, however, is not in our nature.
The Darkest of Suns Will Rise tells the story of Aiden DeCaro and Clarissa Blue, the captain of a near-Earth defense ship and his damaged counterpart. The Orphanage, a loose collection of terrorist cells populated with religious zealots, destroys a merchant vessel while it moves through an AEN-protected trade route. Aiden’s ship is the closest to the incident when it happens and when it’s discovered that the Orphans are using Alliance military codes to nullify observation satellites and intercept civilian ships undetected, eyes turn toward Aiden.
About the Author:
Brian Sfinas is an author, musician, and artist. His novel, The Sexual Adventures of Time and Space, won the AI Seal of Excellence for Outstanding Independent Fiction and was selected for Compulsion Reads’ Irresistible Collection. When he’s not challenging random strangers to battle raps, he can usually be found binge-watching Netflix from his couch in the frozen tundra of Boston’s suburbs.
You can learn more about his work at www.briansfinas.com
Amazon Link If you’re interested in buying the book!
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