Phantasm Friday

Review and Giveaway:

Pictures From the Past

by Deby Eisenberg

Blurb (From the Author's Website)

Pictures of the Past is a compelling saga sweeping through Chicago, Paris and Berlin, reliving events from pre-World War II Europe, but beginning in contemporary times. An Impressionist painting, hanging for decades in the Art Institute of Chicago and donated by the charismatic philanthropist Taylor Woodmere, is challenged by an elderly woman as a Nazi theft. Taylor’s gripping and passionate story takes us back to 1937. Sent to Paris on family business, he reluctantly leaves his girlfriend Emily, a spoiled debutante from Newport, Rhode Island. But once in Europe, he immediately falls in love – first with an Henri Lebasque painting, and then with the enchanting Sarah Berger of Berlin. After Taylor returns home, the Berger family becomes trapped in the Nazi web, and any attempts for the new lovers to be reunited are thwarted.

Interwoven with this narrative is the story of Rachel Gold, a beautiful and bright Chicago girl caught up in the times of the late 1960’s. Pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend Court Woodmere, Taylor’s son, she moves to New York to live with her aunt, a Holocaust survivor. Years later, as the controversy surrounding the provenance of the painting becomes public, Rachel’s grown son is disturbed by his inexplicable familiarity with the work of art. And it is only Taylor Woodmere who can unravel the complicated puzzle of their lives.

With a heart-grabbing ending, Pictures of the Past is historical fiction at its best, giving a personalized window to the powerful events and intriguing venues of the eras. From a world torn by the horrors of war, a love story emerges that endures through years of separation.

“With a captivating storyline that alternates between characters and time periods, Pictures of the Past grabs the reader from the beginning and sustains a heightened interest and curiosity level throughout. Vividly depicted venues and a tapestry of engaging scenes of dialogue, move the reader easily as one era melds into the next. It approaches the most serious subject of the Holocaust with vibrancy and heart. The language is rich with imagery, extreme pathos and yet lightness, as well. The characterizations are beautifully drawn out, making the reader better understand horrific events of global proportion through identification and empathy with individual experiences.”

My Thoughts:

When I first read the premise of this book, I was very excited and eager to read the book itself. I like books that interweave past and present with compelling stories - there's just something about the blending of old and new, past and present that is intriguing to me. So I delved into this book with eagerness. And stopped.

Unfortunately for me, I was so thrown by the way the book was laid out that I wasn't able to continue with it, much to my disappointment. It jumped from one person to the next with a frequency that was jarring - each chapter introduced a new set of characters with their own stories and what, at least in the beginning, is a very thin connecting thread. I couldn't get past that to really get into the story. I felt too disconnected from it and was unable to continue with it.

As always, I invite you to draw your own conclusions about this story. In that tradition, I am passing on my copy of this book to one commenter on this post - with a twist. If you enjoy the book and want to do a rebuttal of my review, I will post it here for our readers. So if you want the chance to win this book and be a guest reviewer on this blog when you read it, please leave a comment stating your interest and an email address where I can contact you if you win.

Tantalizing Tuesday

Finding Time To Write

(When You're a Working Mom)

by

Stephanie Keyes

Hello to everyone at Moonlight, Lace, and Mayhem! I wanted to thank you for letting me stop over for a visit today. It’s always wonderful to make new friends in the writing community. Today I’m here on the blog tour for my debut novel, The Star Child.

Some questions that I get asked a lot, particularly by other working moms is: “How on earth did you find time to write a novel?” This is usually followed, almost immediately by the statement, “I’ve always wanted to write but I don’t know where to begin.” So I thought I’d address these two items in today’s guest post, based on my own experience. If you don’t have these same concerns, then let’s use this as an opportunity to get to know one another, shall we?

Where To Begin?

Initially, I started writing for two reasons. One, because it was a great emotional outlet. And two, because I was reading a popular series and I was furious that it ended. That meant that I had to wait for the author to write another book! Waiting for a new book or CD to come out is always one of the most frustrating things to me. I keep checking the calendar, wondering when it will be released. Although I am general patient, this is one area where I don’t like to be kept waiting.

When I got the idea for The Star Child, I’d written some newspaper articles and short stories, but mostly focused on technical writing which was miles away from Young Adult Fantasy. So I took out the laptop, opened up a word document, and started typing. I had no idea what I was doing; I just knew that a story was pouring out of me so quickly that I couldn’t type the words fast enough to match the running dialogue in my mind.

I wrote the first three chapters and then realized that I had no idea where the story was going. So out to the local pharmacy I went to go and buy index cards. I bought a 100 multi-colored pack and used them to outline the entire book. Though the subplots changed slightly as the book was written, that framework was the one that I followed throughout the creation of the book.

Tips:

• When you first start writing, get your ideas down in any format that you can. Whether you use my approach of typing them out or use a journal or sketch book, the only requirement is that you are comfortable with the format that you choose in the short term.

• In the long-term, you’ll need to consider if you’d like to have your work published. If you do then you’ll eventually have to enter your work into a software solution such as Microsoft Word or Scrivener.

• My motto in the beginning was: don’t think, just write. It’s important during this initial phase to get your ideas down. You can worry about what everything looks like later on. Just capture your thoughts in the moment.

Finding Time To Write

Finding the time to write was so difficult for me. Every moment that I wasn’t with my son, left me feeling guilty for not being with him. The first step that I had to take was to check my baggage. I was walking around, interacting with others, and carrying this enormous weight on my shoulders. Then as a mother, I began to realize that my son got the best version of me when I allowed myself a little “me” time. So when Guilt came knocking at the door, I didn’t answer.

I also picked a time when I was at my best. Rather than trying to cram in writing late at night when I was wiped out, I would write during the weekends within the confines of my son’s nap times. Normally, I could carve out at least two hours of uninterrupted time and that made the writing that I did do all the more meaningful. Then I didn’t have additional guilt to pile on later because he was asleep that entire time. I wrote The Star Child in nine months of (mostly) guilt-free nap times.

Tips:

• Let go of the guilt! You deserve some time for yourself. Start with ten minutes every day and see where it goes from there.

• If you’re considering writing, be sure to pick a time when you are at your best, if possible. For me that does not include anytime prior to 10am.

• Put your writing time on the calendar and mark it as your own.

• Keep all of your materials and resources handy so that you can easily access them when it’s time to write.


Editing, Editing, Editing

After the book was written I wanted to get as much feedback on it as possible, so I reached out to every teenager I knew. Coworkers children, family members, it didn’t matter. I joined a book group and asked my friends, mother, aunts, and my husband to edit it. While they edited, so did I, and slowly, the initial version started to become more solid.

After about a year and a half of editing (also during my son’s the nap times) I was asked to join the Love a Happy Ending group. It’s a wonderful team that brings readers and authors together. It was there that I met Kit Domino.

Kit thoroughly edited The Star Child twice, finding things that I missed and providing me with advice on how to avoid common mistakes that writers make. The experience overall was invaluable to me. By the time The Star Child went to print on December 15th, 2011, it had undergone fifteen rounds of editing.

Tips:

• Seek as much feedback as possible. You can’t create in a vacuum, so the more you get input from others, the more you can flesh out your ideas.

• Don’t worry that they won’t like it. Writing is a lot like music: it’s highly subjective. If someone doesn’t like your work then it’s possible that your book just wasn’t for them instead of worry about it, ask them open-ended questions to get to the heart of their comments. There could be some wonderful data points there.

• Get a professional editor. No matter how detailed you are, you can’t edit it all yourself. A third party can find mistakes in your work but also give you suggestions on continuity issued in the book.


About the Book:

Stephanie Keyes is the author of The Star Child, the young adult, epic fantasy about Kellen St. James, a seventeen-year-old prodigy and Calienta, a Celtic goddess. The novel blends fantasy and modern reality in a book that has received several four and five star reviews and spent nearly two weeks in the #3 slot in Epic Fantasy in the UK and #5 in the same category in the US. It is described as a “fabulous and engaging fantasy debut”.


The Star Child is available on:

Amazon
US http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006GADZ1Y
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Star-Child-ebook/dp/B006GADZ1Y




About the Author:

When Stephanie isn’t writing, she works full time as a Corporate Educator and Curriculum Designer. She holds a M.Ed. from Duquesne University and an undergraduate degree in Management information Systems from Robert Morris University. Stephanie is a clarinetist, saxophonist, and vocalist, and is always making music somewhere at sometime. She credits her loving husband of ten years and her two sons for all things writing. The Star Child is Ms. Keyes’ debut novel.

Find out more about Stephanie at the new http://www.stephaniekeyes.com.

Friend her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephanie-Keyes/150860604966160

Follow her On Twitter: http://bit.ly/jjneXg

Mystic Monday

This is the second week of my return to regular posting. Woohoo!

I've been working on my latest story for quite awhile now, but it keeps changing on me which seems to making harder giving it some flesh. Just when I think I've got a handle on where it's going and what's going to happen, it changes.

So, I'm kind of in shock mode right now because there were some changes that just came out of nowhere and I'm not entirely sure how to handle them.

Hahahaha! Yeah, them! About a faction of new characters, lol!

That's the biggest problem! I've got a group of new characters that are decidedly villains and they've decided to absorb one of my secondary characters! I don't know what to do or how to handle this latest change. I really don't. I don't even know how the characters are going to handle this latest change.

Now, I have to figure out a whole new set of character dynamics - something I thought I'd had solid. This is turning out to one beast of a story!

That's not even the interesting part, either. It turns out the main hero of this story is really the main hero from two other stories I've been working on. I can tell you, I sure didn't see that one coming!

I like surprises while reading, but I'm not so sure how I feel about them as an author. These surprises - and the physical illness I've been fighting - are making it difficult to get this story on track!

I will continue to work on the story and I will just go with the flow... I should be used to that, but the fact I started working on this one with an outline first and have been so organized before now seems to be throwing me. That outline has since been tossed out the window.

I find myself treading in the sea of chaos and heading toward the straits of mayhem! 

I will do what all great writers have done before me - persevere!

Megan Johns Invites: A Warm Welcome to Margay Leah JusticeDescended fr...

Megan Johns Invites: A Warm Welcome to Margay Leah Justice
Descended fr...: A Warm Welcome to Margay Leah Justice Descended from the same bloodline that spawned the likes of James Russell, Amy and Robert Lowell, Mar...

Supernatural Imagination

Please welcome Velvet RoxXx into the Moonlight! She's hard at work on her debut book, More than Human...but you didn't come here to read me chat. So I'll let Velvet RoxXx take over...

Vampires. I must admit, like any other gal out there who adores the supernatural world. I love my vampires. Vampires are like eggs. They have been written about in many ways. Yeah, fried, died and laid to the side. Seriously, there are so many things you can write about in the vampire genre while putting your own spin on it. While I love my vampires and have many stories on my hard drive about them, I'm seeking to write something unique.

Dragon shifters. Oh yeah, how unique is that? Well, these fellas are heavily underrated in my opinion. While there are some books out there about dragon shifters, there don't seem to be as many books as there are about the vamps. 

Dragons are sexy, hell yeah they are. Just the other day while running errands I could have sworn I came across a dragon shifter. Yes, a real live dragon shifter. Some of you may think. Now that gal has totally lost her ever- loving freaking mind! No seriously. C'mon. Use a little imagination here. This is what inspired me to write about More Than Human. I've discovered several things about dragon shifters, too many to list here:

1. Whenever you're in close proximity, the heat rolls off them in waves. Yes, seriously.

2. They growl. Ever been near someone and hear them growl? I mean a deep, guttural growl??

3. They're marked with tats and symbols of their sign. 

Sometimes I see things. No, not dead people. I see energy in a person's aura. At times the energy level is normal, but man sometimes it's powerful and overwhelming...,which leads me to believe. Oh yeah, there are definitely supernatural creatures surrounding us....

Have you ever walked past a person and were immediately captivated by them? I mean you just had to stop and think…hmmm? There’s something about him/her that I just can’t put my finger on. They just seem to intrigue you a bit.

I think maybe I'm just a little intrigued or my muse may be kicking into overdrive. Yeah, I'll go with that. But, you must admit that your mind tends to wander about certain people, places or things that may cross your path. 

Thanx my friends and thank you Gracen for having silly ole me on board today.

Totally not crazy,

VelvetRoxXx

VelvetRoxXx Bio

I am Velvet RoxXx and I'm a debut author of erotic paranormal romance. I write of m/f and f/f characters who may find themselves in compromising positions with paranormal creatures due to their inability to control their curiosity.

More than Human Blurb

There’s something about Tori’s boss, Bane McNamara. He’s no ordinary man. Whenever he’s near, she’s driven mad with desire for him. Unfortunately for Tori, she’s not his type. At least, she thinks she isn’t. 

Dragon shifter, Bane wants Tori with every ounce of his being but he must protect her at all costs. Letting her in on his secret identity too soon may cause problems for them both. 

Thrust in a difficult situation, Bane fights to protect Tori from an old nemesis and claim her before anyone else does. However, claiming the fiery raven-haired vixen means she must fully embrace his identity while accepting an even darker secret of her own.

More than Human Excerpt

“Accept it Tori.” Bane spoke softly. “I hear your thoughts. If you weren’t my true mate, I wouldn’t be able to hear what you’re thinking.”

“You’re my Fire Mate.” He seemed to growl as he entwined his fingers in her hair. She barely winced while the man fisted a large amount of her tresses and jerked her head backwards, baring his neck to him.

“I’m confused. I—don’t understand!”

Releasing her hair, he lifted her into his arms and carried her over to the couch. “No need to understand, he spoke huskily. “Feel!” He tossed her onto the sofa and began stripping the clothes from his body.

He reached for her, almost ripping the silk robe from her body. Something seemed to push the air from her lungs as she fought for breath. Realizing she was naked as a jaybird, she covered her stomach.

“Oh no you don’t!” Bane snarled. “You need to be restrained,” he suggested in an animalistic voice. “Don’t you ever hide your body from me!”

Suddenly, a silk sash appeared, and tied her hands together. An invisible force soon had her arms above her head. Did she want to stop him? "Bane!" She didn’t recognize her voice as her own.
He gazed at her naked body as he explored her curves. While he explored her thighs, she shuddered. Tori tried sucking her stomach in when his hand glided over her tummy bulge.

“Don’t do that,” he growled against her ear. He continued the seductive exploration of her body. “By the Dragon gods, you’re such a beautiful woman.

She was shocked. Her body didn’t turn him off? She looked into his eyes, but all she saw was his desire heightening. He lingered at the faint stretch marks. Astonished, she watched as he stroked the areas lovingly, nuzzling against her flesh. She hated her stretch marks, but obviously the man worshipped her body.

Tori’s hips lifted off the couch as he kissed and licked her rounded belly. Pleasure shot through her entire body. “Bane.” She crooned. She watched as her boss continued working his way to the place she desired most. She gasped when he reached her spot. Tori almost leapt off the sofa. “Bane!” She heard him growl. This time she wasn't imagining things. Immediately, three words came to mind. Sexy. Hot. Inhuman.

More Than Human will be available sometime in March.

My Blog is http://velvetroxxx.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/VelvetRoxXx

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7518585-velvet-roxxx

Wistful Wednesday

A Review: Stolen Away

by Alyxandra Harvey

Alyxandra Harvey brings her trademark romance and adventure to the world of Faery

For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won't comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds.

The only one who can break his stranglehold on the Faery court is his wife ... Eloise's aunt Antonia. Using Eloise to lure Antonia, Strahan captures his wife, desperate to end the only threat to his reign. Now Eloise must become the rescuer. Together with her best friends Jo and Devin, she must forge alliances with other Fae, including a gorgeous protector named Lucas, and Strahan's mysterious son, Eldric—who may or may not betray them.

My Thoughts:

All I can say about this book is that the title is not misleading - and it is the reader who will be Stolen Away by this story. I have read quite a few books with this same theme in the past and they were really hit or miss with me. Some lived up to the hype, others made me wonder what the hype was all about. Not so Stolen Away. This has to be one of the best Faery books I have read in a long time.

I was caught from the very first pages and happily strung along until the thrilling conclusion - and I wasn't disappointed by it. The characters were amazing and so well drawn out, it was like I was reading the diary of a friend. I found myself rooting for the characters and wishing them well, cringing when they ran into trouble, and breathing a sigh of relief when things worked out. I found myself drooling over Lucas and Eldric, laughing out loud with Devin, and secretly wishing I was either Eloise or Jo.

The descriptions of the faeries and their world were detailed to the point that I felt like I was there with them, experiencing everything they did. I actually believed this world could exist. And I almost wanted to live there! But not everything is beautiful in the faery world and that is where the real intrigue lies.

If you enjoy stories about faeries and the faery world, then you will definitely want to b Stolen Away.

Mystic Monday

Hey there!

It's been awhile since I've posted here. That was for many reasons, the biggest being all the migraines I suffered with last year. It just felt like it never ended. Then, when I was easing myself back into real life, I spent a lot of time over in the Anime Alcove, adding reviews on the different anime programs I've watched. Still have a few more to enter, but I'm beginning to branch out and plan on starting back with this site regularly as well as our:

YA Cove
Mystery Isle

Sci-Fi Coffers 

Fantasy Files and 

Horror House 

- links to all of which can be found in our Causeway, or the tabs above! 

Also, I finally had the chance to get my newest online writing endeavor organized today. It's called Unbound Soul Network. The world and characters are still pretty basic right now, but the idea is not only to get an idea of my writing, but to see how this world will unfold as I come up with it.

We also have Twitter: Just type in Unbound Soul Network! (1 Tweet so far!)

We have a brand-spanking new Facebook page too under Unbound Soul Network! Stop by and like the page! When it gets to 25, I'll be able to create give it it's own link! :D 

I hope you'll stop by, check it out, and follow it!

Supernatural Sunday

     

Druids

by

Elizabeth Marxx

When you imagine druid, you imagine someone resembling the man above. Locke Cavanagh is descended from this old gentleman, even though Locke looks nothing like the old wise man depicted here. The one thing they do share in common besides their ancient DNA is their workrooms. Locke’s inner sanctum is not very different from his predecessors, even though a millennium separates them.

Locke Cavanagh’s is located in the barn behind his house in Salem. His Sanctum Sanctorum contains his library of arcane knowledge, his temple, a magical museum, and a worktable.

Locke’s barn is original to the property and dates back to the late 1780’s. The barn has a waist-high stone foundation with raised timbered walls above, and it’s crowned with a slate roof. It has several entrances, a regular door nestled under the eaves, a double barn-door that slides on a track and a loft door for the second story hay loft, which Locke converted into a bedroom. The interior has limestone floors; the center of the stone floor has a laminated wood, checkerboard-floor, where life-size chess pieces stand like statues waiting to be moved by feats of magic.

All druids worth an ounce of salt have a library of the arcane that houses books on magic, science and nature, history, myths and legends, art books, reference materials and maps. Even though the druids don’t record their own histories in bound volumes, they do collect the knowledge of other ancient wise people. These volumes range in a myriad of magical subjects from the Persian Magi, to the arcane wisdom of African shamans, to the mysticism of the ancient Egyptians.

Locke’s temple or altar, houses his serpent’s egg which is used for divination, his athame (knife) and chalice used for rituals and depictions of the male and female gods: Abundia the goddess of abundance and a bronze statue of Cernunnos the god of fertility. Candles, a censure for burning incense, bowls of salt, a crystal bowl for water, and gong are all items used to represent the earth and elements. Any magical amulets and talismans would also be kept here for protection. If one possessed, let’s say, a magical mirror, it too would find protection when placed on the altar.

A druid learns many lessons from his environment and his desire for learning and improvement never ceases, making a magical museum essential. A cabinet of curiosities holds precious items like seeds, flowers, fossils, rocks and crystals, models or dioramas for further study. Globes, sundials, and contraptions like timepieces, water clocks, and sundials are used for plotting the motion of the heavenly bodies and estimating the best times to take action or create spells. A menagerie containing both a terrarium with local plant life, insects and small animals, and an aquarium planted with natural water plants and filled with local pond water and fish help keep the druid grounded in his local surroundings.

A druids’ worktable houses items for creating compounds that work in conjunction with spells and incantations. It’s not much different than a modern chemistry lab set-up. An athenos is a small furnace used for melting and combining metals and other substances similar to a Bunsen burner. An alembic is used for distilling the essence of liquids used for the same thing as an evaporating dish and lab burner. Pieces of quartz, a mortar and pestle, a whetstone and knife, bottles and cloth sacks for herbs and spices are scattered around the surface. Locke doesn’t keep any freshly ground unicorn horn around but he does have eye of newt. These folklore items rest alongside beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks and safety glasses at the table. Some of the more traditional items on a druids’ worktable are crystal balls for divination, which should only be used sparingly, hour candles, and a polished skull which serves to startle visitors and makes an excellent paper weight. A large black cauldron rests in the middle of the table and is handy for stirring all sorts of spells or for storing paint thinner. Don’t tell Locke this is what Keleigh used it for while he was away or he might blow a gasket, nah, he’ll just make sure Humphrey scours it. What druid doesn’t have a little minion to do all the dirty work?

If you think because you have ExtraOrdinary skills you don’t have to work at them, your wrong. Just like any other talent inherited from your parents, the more effort you invest in enhancing the ability, the better master of it you will become. Most ExtraOrdinaries believe their magical aptitudes are a gift and choose to use them wisely and for good purposes, but beware those who use them for the sole purpose of expanding their personal power, for they pay a steep price. Remember what happened to Ciara, a fiery death isn’t fun. Just ask the Seer.

For those interested in how Locke differs from the old looking druid above, here’s a glimpse of what a modern druid looks like. Be still your beating hearts. . . All this and magic too!

http://www.elizabethmarxbooks.com

http://www.facebook.com/TheSeers7DeadlyFairyTales

http://www.amazon.com/author/elizabethmarxbooks

 

       

Starlight Saturday

Please Welcome Guest Author

J.J. Bidell

I am very happy about sharing some information about me here. My real name is Elke Becker and I am a German author living in Spain, so my English is far away from being perfect. So please bear with me ;-)

After travelling around the world at least I settled down in Spain, to be exactly on Mallorca, a beautiful island in the Mediterranean Sea. I never felt like home in Germany and for that reason I looked for my place in the world.

I lived alone in Venezuela where I started studying Spanish. Nobody over there spoke English nether German. So I felt very lonely there the first time. For that reason I started writing and never could stop again. The stories of too many funny adventures, curious situations, different customs and very nice people from all over the world has to been told. As it was in a time where not every home had an internet connection nether skype or other systems offered their service, I had to connect with family and friends going in an internet café. So I started writing what happened to me during my stay like a dairy. I saved it on a floppy disk and walked to the closest internet café for sending it to my family.

In this time I was far away from writing novels but I never stopped writing for myself. The first three “novels” are still “sleeping” in a file in my computer. They are nice to read … but without a real story or plot … I showed it only to my sister and to a friend – they loved the stories and I know they will love everything I write because they love me. So I took courses in creative and screenplay writing, bought books like “How to write a damn good novel” and some other books about writing – and I wrote a lot. Short stories, longer ones and scripts for short movies.

After another year I tried to start my next novel. I plotted with the “snowflake method”, wrote a crime story – inspired by a true story – and found a publisher in Germany. So things started slowly.

It was great fun during the screenplay writing course painting the storyboard of my script for a short movie and helped a lot in dialogue seeing the written words getting alive by actors. I will never forget the feeling I had seeing it on the screen. If you wish to have a look – it is subtitled and free:  http://vimeo.com/groups/germanshortfilms/videos/14587417


Well, my nieces are not interested in crime stories not even in my ones. Kids are cruel and honest and I love this. But they asked me why I am not writing something for them like an urban fantasy story without werewolves and vampires and I promised them to consider it.

As I travelled to Mexico before I remembered a legend of jaguar people in the Maya era and I started thinking: What will happen, when a young woman in present time will be transformed into a panther in a foreign country living there by her own? What if she fell in love and this love will be in danger? Slowly the plot grew up. I travelled to Maine for finding the right place for the US setting and after a year the first part of novel has been done. I wrote this story under the name J. J. Bidell. (The name comes from my nieces Jessica and Janine and the maiden name of my beloved mother Bidell)

My nieces love the story and other readers in Germany like the story too. So I asked a professional translator in Washington to translate the first part for English readers. Some people asked me, why English spoken people should read a novel of an unknown German author and I was not able to answer. But I nor know the answer why German readers are reading the stories of authors from other countries … maybe it is only while the story sounds interesting? I will see if they like the story. The time will show.

In the meanwhile I am working in the second part which will be finished in December this year (German Edition) and I love how the characters challenge me while trying to live their own live in the story. And the story I have in mind for them.

My only intention is to entertain the reader for some hours. Nothing more, nothing less. If I achieve this I am very happy and if not I try to achieve this next time as far as I gain it.

Biography

J. J. Bidell grew up in the country-bred of Southern Germany with an older sister and a younger brother. Since she was 18 years old she travelled every year like a backpacker thru the North and South America as she never felt comfortable in her native country. She considers herself like a cosmopolitan with German roots.  After living in Venezuela and in the Dominican Republic she moved to Spain. Since 2005 she lives on Mallorca with her older sister and her fifteen year old black cat, which is more than happy that she never has to set paw in another airplane again.

Under the name Elke Becker she published several short stories with Amnesty International, in anthologies and a novel with Schenk Publishing House. Her script of a short movie “Marie´s voice” has been running in several international film festivals like in the UK and Colombia.

Where to meet:
Home: www.elke-becker.com
Twitter: @JJBidell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JJBidell

Link to the novel: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005IHDW82



Look for my review of J.J.'s book to come!