Yolanda Ramos's Blog, page 5
August 3, 2014
August 2, 2014
July 29, 2014
July 24, 2014
My Nemesis
Originally posted on I had told him a flat no, but he kept badgering me. My son and hubby however, were like minded, and on the day of Sergio’s eighteenth birthday, I found myself staring at the shivering, goose pimpled beastie in his arms.
“I’m going to hand-rear him mom, you won’t have to do a thing.” Yeah right, I thought, famous last words. I threw hubby a filthy look, his grin widened. But true to his words, Sergio took care of the beastie, preparing the mush that passed for his baby food with great diligence. At night while we watched television, the beastie would squat on Sergio’s chest, a mass of itsy bitsy feathers, wrinkled, pimply skin and beady little eyes.
Time passed and the beastie flourished, the white bum fluff morphed into grey feathers, his tail turned red and his eyes remained beady. Sergio played around with regal sounding names like…
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July 14, 2014
Cormac Bracari
Maron Anrow grew up in California, came of age in the Midwest, and is now passing time in New Jersey. She lives with her husband, stepdaughter, and three awesome cats. Maron has a Ph.D. in social psychology and has published (under her real name) over 20 scientific articles since 2008. Laika in Lisan is her first novel, and it details the journey of Laika, a private tutor who is invited to study in the mysterious country of Lisan. While in Lisan, Laika struggles with moral ambiguity and a life-changing ethical dilemma.
Website: http://maronanrow.comGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... Anrow
Now for the questions:
What is the name of your character? Is he fictional or a historic person?
His name is Cormac Sebastian Sierra Bracari. Yes, I know, it’s a mouthful, but he has a long history. Cormac is a fictional character, descended from a real life Lusitanian hero who fought against the Roman expansion until his friends betrayed and killed him in 139 BC.
When and where is the story set?
The story is set in the present, but also moves back in time. Cormac lives in Spain at the Calatrava fortress built by the military Order of Calatrava in medieval times. Of course, for my story, I have modernized and renovated the castle and the surrounding buildings. Parts of the story also take place in Portugal, France and America.
What should we know about him?
Cormac is a sentinel empowered by archangels. His main function is to guard artefacts of immense power left behind by the fallen angels, the Nephilim and the ancient prophets.
What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?
There are seven sentinels, each with his own stash of artefacts hidden away. Cormac has to keep the rogue sentinels from getting their hands on his artefacts. He also has to locate and retrieve the artefacts kept by the two rogue sentinels. The leader of this dangerous duo is Hugh Stanley Fitzgerald. To do this, Cormac has to fight powerful demons controlled by the rogues and must also uncover the nefarious plans that the rogues have been hatching for the last twenty-odd years. Cormac’s life is completely messed up and turned upside down when the rogues send in a team to search the castle for clues to the whereabouts of his artefacts.
What is the personal goal of the character?
Cormac knows he is young and inexperienced in real warfare, especially when it comes to fighting demons. He wants to live up to the expectations and burdens placed on his shoulders. He wants to protect the people he loves and be a good leader of both men and angels.
What is the title of this novel and can we read more about it?
The Seventh Sentinel is available on Amazon, here is the link:
The Seventh Sentinel
The Seventh Sentinel
Buy from Amazon
You can also find it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Blog: http://sentinelsarchs.wordpress.com/
Twitter handle: @YDBR1
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The following authors are next on this “Meet my Character Blog Tour” They will be posting on the 21 July, please be sure to check out their blogs. Thank you.
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Natasha Ahmed, author of Butterfly Season.
Natasha Ahmed is a pen name. In real life, Natasha is a graphic designer, a businesswoman and occasionally writes art and book reviews for publications within Pakistan.
She works in a small office at home, not far from Sea View, Karachi. From a tiny window, she can see the Arabian Sea sparkling in the distance, and small fishing boats trawl up and down the water throughout the day. When she’s not writing books, she’s dreaming of setting sail towards the horizon and never looking back. Great adventure, she believes, starts with great daring.
Butterfly Season is her first novella, though not, she hopes, her last.
Find out more on Facebook: http://Facebook.com/tasha.author.
Goodreads: //www.goodreads.com/book/show/19475532-...
Website: http://dearrumi.com/
Follow her on Twitter:
@NatashaA_Author
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James L Hill, author of Pegasus: A Journey to New Eden.
A native New Yorker, born and raised in the Bronx, I spent my
adolescence years in Fort Apache, the South Bronx 41st precinct during
the 60’s. Raised on blues, soul, and rock and roll gave me the heart of a
flower child. Educated by the turmoil of Vietnam, Civil Rights, and the
Sexual Revolution turned me into a gladiator. Realizing the
precariousness of life gave me an adventurous outlook to try anything
once, and if it did not kill me, maybe twice.
Website: http://www.jlhill-books.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Cormac Bracari.
Maron Anrow, author of Laika in Lisan tagged me to participate in this “Meet my Character Blog Tour” where authors answer questions about their main character. Thank you Maron for the invite. Here is a little about her.
Maron Anrow grew up in California, came of age in the Midwest, and is now passing time in New Jersey. She lives with her husband, stepdaughter, and three awesome cats. Maron has a Ph.D. in social psychology and has published (under her real name) over 20 scientific articles since 2008. Laika in Lisan is her first novel, and it details the journey of Laika, a private tutor who is invited to study in the mysterious country of Lisan. While in Lisan, Laika struggles with moral ambiguity and a life-changing ethical dilemma.
Website: http://maronanrow.comGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8141166.Maron Anrow
Now for the questions:
What is the name of your character? Is he fictional or a historic person?
His name is Cormac Sebastian Sierra Bracari. Yes, I know, it’s a mouthful, but he has a long history. Cormac is a fictional character, descended from a real life Lusitanian hero who fought against the Roman expansion until his friends betrayed and killed him in 139 BC.
When and where is the story set?
The story is set in the present, but also moves back in time. Cormac lives in Spain at the Calatrava fortress built by the military Order of Calatrava in medieval times. Of course, for my story, I have modernized and renovated the castle and the surrounding buildings. Parts of the story also take place in Portugal, France and America.
What should we know about him?
Cormac is a sentinel empowered by archangels. His main function is to guard artefacts of immense power left behind by the fallen angels, the Nephilim and the ancient prophets.
What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?
There are seven sentinels, each with his own stash of artefacts hidden away. Cormac has to keep the rogue sentinels from getting their hands on his artefacts. He also has to locate and retrieve the artefacts kept by the two rogue sentinels. The leader of this dangerous duo is Hugh Stanley Fitzgerald. To do this, Cormac has to fight powerful demons controlled by the rogues and must also uncover the nefarious plans that the rogues have been hatching for the last twenty-odd years. Cormac’s life is completely messed up and turned upside down when the rogues send in a team to search the castle for clues to the whereabouts of his artefacts.
What is the personal goal of the character?
Cormac knows he is young and inexperienced in real warfare, especially when it comes to fighting demons. He wants to live up to the expectations and burdens placed on his shoulders. He wants to protect the people he loves and be a good leader of both men and angels.
What is the title of this novel and can we read more about it?
The Seventh Sentinel is available on Amazon, here is the link:
July 8, 2014
Basil the Beastie
The Cantankerous Parrot
My Nemesis
I had told him a flat no, but he kept badgering me. My son and hubby however, were like minded, and on the day of Sergio’s eighteenth birthday, I found myself staring at the shivering, goose pimpled beastie in his arms.
“I’m going to hand-rear him mom, you won’t have to do a thing.” Yeah right, I thought, famous last words. I threw hubby a filthy look, his grin widened. But true to his words, Sergio took care of the beastie, preparing the mush that passed for his baby food with great diligence. At night while we watched television, the beastie would squat on Sergio’s chest, a mass of itsy bitsy feathers, wrinkled, pimply skin and beady little eyes.
Time passed and the beastie flourished, the white bum fluff morphed into grey feathers, his tail turned red and his eyes remained beady. Sergio played around with regal sounding names like Caesar, Giaus, Hugo. I suggested, Hitler, Nero, Jack the Ripper, but instead we settled on Basil. We bought a cage, filled it with suitable toys and slotted it into a corner of our veranda. In retrospect, I should have placed Basil in the sun and let his carcass burn! The floor around the cage soon became a battlefield of sunflower seeds, bits of dried chilli, grape skins and runny green poop.
Every morning, I’d greet Basil with what became our special whistle. I’d open the beastie’s cage, sit at the wrought iron table with cappuccino in hand and contemplate the day ahead. Soon enough, Basil would join me. He’d climb down the cage, waddle his way across the tiled floor, up the leg of a chair – or the table, whatever was handy, and fix his beady eye on my blue polka dot mug. With a click of his tongue, he would dip his lethal beak into the foam and happily guzzle away.
Daily, we built a loving relationship. I’d scratch and massage his neck, tickle under his wings and plant many kisses on his beak. Beastie loved it, I loved it, we grew close. I taught him to speak. “Kiss, kiss baby.” Basil would graciously dip his head and I’d place kisses on his beak. Other phrases soon followed like: hey baby, love you my darling, what you doing, where are you. Beastie even imitates my laugh. I never realised that I cackled like a witch. It takes Basil about two days to learn a new sentence or phrase. I constantly repeat the words while he watches me like a hawk, fluffing out his feathers. So adorable.
Hubby was away a lot, eventually my sons left for Australia, and beastie and I fell more in love. After all, most of the time it was just the two of us. Brings to mind that old song, ‘two for tea and tea for two,’ only it was coffee we shared and yoghurt, which he’d nibble from my teaspoon. Beastie also loves soft chips, crisps and cooked spaghetti with tomatoes mixed in. I do try and get him to eat his greens, but he always gives me a gimlet stare, grabs the offending green stuff and tosses it away. Pomegranate seeds are another favourite, but strawberries, avocado and of course, chocolate are a big no-no. I’ve even left some of these foodstuffs in his pathway, but he steers well away from them. I’ve also contemplated shoving them down his scrawny throat with a syringe or maybe just snapping his skinny neck, or I could just… okay, deep breath. I’ll stop there for now. There will be more stories of the greatest love on earth, between me and Beastie.
June 17, 2014
Featured Author Andrew Lamb
Check out Andrew Lamb’s book, Dispatchers Vengeance of the Dark (Dispatchers, #1)
by Andrew Lamb (Goodreads Author), supernatural thriller. It’s sounds intriguing and I have added it to my “to read” list.
May 27, 2014
Anne Rice
Anne Rice is one of my favourite authors. Her vampire novels are the first I read in that genre, many years ago., and to me, they are still the best vampire books out there. Ms Rice is also very supportive of indie authors. I came across this article from the Examiner about her writing process.
Here is the link: http://www.examiner.com/article/anne-rice-on-the-writing-process
