Broken Pieces

#TimeTravel & More with @PMPillon's THE REALITY MASTER (Vol.1) #SciFi #YA

ARRIVAL

On a cool and clear night, a sheer and towering cliff awaited its approaching moment to become the temporary abode of a celestial interloper. It stood stoic, unimpressed by the clamorous sea imperiously fulminating with an incessant barrage of waves against its base. A stone’s throw away was the exit point of an effluent stream, a capillary of the fecund land mass it flowed through. With the aid of a clear sky and a full moon, a distant horizon was visible in every direction; ocean filling the entire sight in one, verdant and untrammeled panoplies of mountain forest in another. A hundred miles of this California Big Sur coast and its regions to the east were in virtually pristine condition, more than two hundred thousand acres with relatively few human inhabitants.
Inland, the luminescence of moon and stars bestowed an unfettered. evergreen view of redwoods, maples, pines, firs and oaks. Flying about the natural paradise were raucous jays, crows, magpies and woodpeckers. Invisible in the shimmering light, a sonorous ocean air swept in from the west, rustling the trees; a natural refrain emanating from their dancing, undulating branches and leaves, increasing and decreasing in compliance with the invading force. The wind’s voice eerily equivocated, fluctuating back and forth from a bare whisper to an angry, frightening ululation of dominant abandon; now gradually quieting, at last dying, only to be reborn and assiduously grow unto a mature and bellowing rage. Animals added their sounds to the holistic cacophony: a bark, a howl, a burst through bushes, crackling twigs and branches stepped on or dragged. The stars were in full bloom, complimenting the moon to illuminate the peaks, the canyons, and all within.
One of the star lights was moving, and as it came nearer the earth, it grew in size until was clear that it was not a star but a far smaller, soaring, perhaps piloted, object. As it came into the atmosphere, it developed color – an orange tint. A few hundred feet from the ground, it stopped and remained in place for more than an hour. Finally, a smaller light emerged from it, and the larger light rose again until it disappeared. The new light was purposeful, changing directions as it descended. It floated down and meandered among the trees as though surveying the scenery, until eventually it traveled westward, following a gushing stream to its merger with the ocean. Hovering above the beach, the light hesitated, then floated into a crack on a shrubbery-laden boulder that was lodged partway up the cliff next to the stream, as though perching there for a view of magnificent sunsets. The object continued to glow for some minutes, its light gradually diminishing and finally extinguishing completely. Someone who saw it at close range would describe it as small and round, and maybe add that it looked for all the world to be nothing more than an ordinary stone.



His celestial companion was waiting for him
Precariously climbing a sea-side cliff near Big Sur, ten-year-old Joey Blake was as yet unaware that near his grasp was an object, so odd, mysterious and alien to earth that it would change his life forever and the lives of countless others in the next few astonishing days. Reaching up as far as he could for a handhold it was just there; it had subconsciously lured him, occupied his mind, and made him find it. It was like he was meant to see and discover this object of unimaginable power … the power to change reality.
Time travel and more

This young adult series of sci-fi fantasy novels begins with The Reality Master and continues through four other exciting and amazing stories about time travel and mysterious alien devices. Joey and the reader will face dangerous shadowy criminal organizations, agents of the NSA, bizarre travelers from other times and even renegade California bikers and scar-faced walking dead.
- Vol 1 The Reality Master
- Vol 2 Threat To The World
- Vol 3 Travel Beyond
- Vol 4 Missions Through Time
- Vol 5 The Return Home
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Science fiction, Fantasy, Young adult
Rating – G
More details about the author
Connect with PM Pillon on Facebook & Twitter

"Resilience of the human spirit" - INSIDE/OUTSIDE by @JennyHayworth1 #Memoir #Abuse

Imagine that someone you love dies. You no longer can see them, speak to them, or touch them or have any literal experience with them except within your mind and heart. This is what being disfellowshipped or disassociated from the Jehovah’s Witnesses means to those who are cut off. They are treated as if they are dead to those remaining in it.
When I was an active member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and believed a hundred percent in it, I had always believed what had been taught to us from the platform by the elders and in The Watchtower magazine (published twice a month by The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society).
I believed that when baptised Jehovah’s Witnesses decided (because they had bad hearts) that they no longer wished to be Jehovah’s Witnesses, they would say to the elders that they no longer wished to be known as Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was a totally voluntary process, I was taught, and it occurred because these people wanted to do things that were condemned by Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Bible and so no longer wanted to continue being known as one. It was a voluntary separation on their part from the organisation even though they would realise it would cause enormous pain for their families.
Since these people knew that by choosing a lifestyle contrary to one Jehovah God wanted them to lead (as set forth by The Watchtower Society), they knew their families would have to cut them off in obedience to the scriptural direction given by the Apostle James on how to treat those who left the fold. This was to treat them as if they were “dog[s] returning to [their] vomit” as the scriptures put it.
The families would not be allowed to speak to them, eat with them, or greet them. In fact they were instructed to treat them as if they were no longer living. If their families did associate with them and didn’t repent for it after being given the opportunity to do so by loving elders who would try to turn their hearts back to obedience to God’s way, they also would be disfellowshipped.
The elders saw disassociation as a choice made by a baptised person even though both—disassociation and disfellowshipping—were treated in exactly the same way. Disfellowshipped ones might have just made a mistake and need to be punished for the behaviour in which they had engaged. So they were often seen as not having badhearts but as having been led astray or needing to be shocked into realising the seriousness of their actions. People could, however, commit any disfellowshipping sins, and if they were expressing enough remorse or contrition they might not be disfellowshipped.
Talks were constantly being given from the platform about all the things one could be disfellowshipped for including fornication, adultery, homosexuality, and any sexual conduct considered “Unclean” or classified as “pornea.” Also idolatry and celebrating worldly holidays (birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Halloween) were considered disfellowshipping offences, as they were all pagan in origin.
However, when I asked the elders why witnesses like myself could wear white wedding dresses and wedding rings, both of which were pagan in origin, and asked who picked which historical customs were allowed to be practised and which weren’t, they could not give me an adequate answer.
We just had to be obedient to the direction of The Watchtower, and if they changed their understanding because of a “light” from God in the future, we would be told. But in the meantime, we had to be patient, be obedient, and wait.
My major doubts had surfaced while being reprimanded in New Zealand about going to worldly counsellors for my children when they disclosed their sexual abuse. I had not received counselling from anyone, and this had not helped me. I knew deep inside myself that I had to get help for my children other than just what the elders would provide. I didn’t want my beautiful children to experience the extreme guilt and fear I had experienced because of the abuse by Pop and all that flowed from it.
I could not see how elders who were not trained as counsellors in any way, shape, or form and had no formal education on sexual abuse victims and how to counsel or treat them could have been better than trained professionals. Also I could not see how, if someone broke the law of the land by sexually abusing a child, only the elders and not the judicial system should have dealt with him or her. I had scriptures quoted at me at the time saying God appoints elders, so they are his representatives on earth and not some worldly judging system that does not understand the ways of God’s people.
Again I could not see how, if police were not involved, the guilty person’s just saying sorry to the elders would stop it from happening again or to someone else. Who was accountable? If a member of the congregation murdered someone, he or she had to go to the police and to court. Why not those who committed sexual abuse and rape? Why were these lesser crimes? Why did they not warrant criminal inquires?
When in Wellington, New Zealand, and taking the children to see the counsellor, I had been disturbed by what I had seen happening in our own congregation, where Leonard was involved as one of the elders. A young girl disclosed past sexual abuse that had happened to her, committed by a witness male friend who had worked for her father. She had stated he had come into her room and raped her a few years previously, when she had been about thirteen years old. Now that she was sixteen years old, she had disclosed it.
The accused had previously been married and had two daughters. The daughters had disclosed sexual abuse, but they were still young, only five or six years old. The ex-wife had gone to the police and was taking the children to see the same sexual-abuse counsellor I was taking my children to.
She didn’t know me, but I knew her as the two children had been at the meetings with their abuser on access visits up until the disclosures had been made. His ex-wife had been disfellowshipped, and he had remarried, and his new wife was only seventeen years old and pregnant with their first child. He had apparently written a letter of confession to the elders. The police had requested to interview the head elder, known as the Presiding Overseer of the congregation the accused attended. The Presiding Overseer had come to our house to have an urgent meeting with Leonard, who was then the Secretary of the congregation, and the Treasurer. These were the three main elders in each congregation who dealt with these matters.
As the Presiding Overseer was leaving the house, he said the letter had to be destroyed at all costs, as he had spoken to a solicitor and it was up to the prosecution to prove guilt—he did not have to supply evidence that would incriminate the accused. He also spoke about how he believed that the confidentiality of a confession to elders should be considered the same as the Catholic Church did it, and no elder should therefore have been forced to tell a policeman or court what had been disclosed by a member of the flock to him.
He was saying if the letter was found, the brother would most certainly be found guilty (he had pled not guilty in court) and would spend a long time in prison. As he was very repentant and had promised not to do it again, and had responded to the counselling of the elders, they needed to protect their flock.
It sickened me to listen to them talk. I instinctively thought, but what about protecting his children and his unborn child?  What about the children from the congregation who went to his house? The young girl had been counselled by the elders not to say anything to anyone. She came in distress to see me one day after arguing with her witness mother, with whom she had a volatile relationship, and said he had been made to apologise to her, so it was all meant to be okay now.
I knew from my own experience as an elder’s wife and from visiting other elders and their wives that rarely was anything kept as confidential as the congregation was repeatedly told it was. I knew that within a few days, every one of the elders and their wives would know what had been said and discussed, and all who were close to them as friends would be told. There was no confidentiality, in my experience. I didn’t want what had happened to my children and any disclosures I made to be dinner talk around people’s tables. I couldn’t bear for that to happen. So I just knew I had to go outside the congregation.
The most important reason, though, stemmed back to my childhood fear and memories. Hearing the talk given from the platform when I was a child about the scriptures in the Old Testament that said if a woman was raped in the field and didn’t cry out, she was guilty of adultery and was to be stoned to death, frightened me enormously. I had frozen when Pop abused me. I had been unable to move due to fear at times when I was in the bath, in the cupboard, or under the bed. During what had happened on the tennis court, the leadenness in my legs prevented me from moving, and the fear up tight in my throat and chest meant I was unable to scream or make a sound; I had a total inability to fight back as I was immobilised by fear.
I had spoken to Amy and Ben’s counsellor, and she had been quite forthcoming in explaining that children can fight, flight, or freeze. And abusers often picked those they felt would not fight back but would freeze or comply for many varying reasons, but it certainly did not mean the children wished it to happen.
At the time of Benjamin and Amy’s being abused, there was a case getting media coverage involving a woman in the United States, where a man had been found not guilty of rape due to the fact she had made him use a condom in the middle of raping her. Some of the local elders said this showed willingness and compliance. The woman had awoken to find a man on top of her, who she did not know, with a knife held to her throat. She had condoms in her drawer. When she realised he was going to rape her, she begged him to put on a condom as she was so frightened of getting HIV or another venereal disease. He put it on. Then he left afterward. She went to the police, and it had gone all the way through to trial. He was found not guilty because of the condom use. I was outraged.
I thought, here was a woman having enough wits about her to protect herself in any small way she could, even in the process of being violated by a stranger with a knife, and because she didn’t fight him, as she wished to survive, and he complied and wore a condom, it was taken as consensual? I was horrified. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses I associated with agreed with the court finding as it concurred with the biblical teaching we’d had drummed into us.
Another case was also in the media of a woman who did not scream or resist as the man had broken in and had a knife, but she had a young daughter asleep in the bed next to her. So she lay quietly and did what he said, as she was terrified if her daughter woke up she also would be assaulted or otherwise hurt. The man left, and because the woman had not screamed, the issue of consent arose. I argued vehemently with the elders that surviving was the most important thing, and no one in their right mind could think she gave consent when it was a stranger with a knife held to her. They kept parroting the scripture, though, as if they were unable to think outside the box.
Even when discussing this same issue with my friends, Lisa and Matthew, I would get frustrated. Matthew said if someone broke into his house, and his wife didn’t scream, he would wonder why. Lisa replied instantly that of course she would scream. I put to her that if she were so terrified she couldn’t run or make any noise, would that mean she consented? She couldn’t give an answer except to say she would scream, and it wouldn’t happen that she wouldn’t. And then they said God wouldn’t have put that in the Bible if it were not reasonable.
I was upset and angry, to say the least. I could not believe that, as scientific evidence clearly showed, a person has no control over his or her physical reaction to fear. So why would God punish people for that? I repeatedly said to the elders that I didn’t believe in a God that treated people like that, and that The Watchtower’s interpretation of those scriptures must have been wrong.
One day an elder came to the house and lent me a few books and magazines he had in regard to biblical questions I had raised. I read them, but they gave me no new answers that satisfied me—nothing besides what I had already found out through studying the society’s literature myself. I had them for a while and then one day put them in Leonard’s briefcase for him to give to the elder at the next meeting. I rang the elder to let him know Leonard would be giving them back, as I was not attending many meetings at that stage. I felt like I would be a hypocrite if I continued to go door to door, trying to convert people to a faith with some doctrines I no longer accepted. I also was spending my time trying to cope with my marriage issues and my own emotional state.
The elder asked me if I had found the magazines useful, and when I thanked him for giving them to me but stated they had not answered my queries, he enquired if he would see me at the field service group that Saturday. I said no and said that as I no longer went witnessing, I no longer considered myself to be a witness. He went quiet and asked me to repeat that statement. As we were repeatedly told from the platform, if we did not go door to door then we were not witnesses for Jehovah. I again stated to the elder that as it had been months since I had been in field service, I did not consider myself a witness anymore.
The conversation ended pleasantly enough, and I thought no more of it. At the time I didn’t realise this innocent phone conversation, which had taken only two minutes, would alter the course of my whole life.
If I had known, I might have paid more attention.

***Award winning book (finalist) in 2014 Beverley Hills International Book Awards***
Jenny Hayworth grew up within the construct of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which she describes as a fundamentalist cult-like religion. She devoted her life to it for over thirty years. Then she left it. The church “unfellowshipped” her-rendering her dead to those family and friends still committed to the church.Hayworth is a sexual abuse survivor. The trauma changed her self-perception, emotional development, trust, and every interaction with the world.
Inside/Outside is her exploration of sexual abuse, religious fundamentalism, and recovery. Her childhood circumstances and tragedies forced her to live “inside.” This memoir chronicles her journey from experiencing comfort and emotional satisfaction only within her fantasy world to developing the ability to feel and express real life emotion on the “outside.”
It is a story that begins with tragic multigenerational abuse, within an oppressive society, and ends with hope and rebirth into a life where she experiences real connections and satisfaction with the outside world.
Those who have ever felt trapped by trauma or circumstances will find Inside/Outside a dramatic reassurance that they are not alone in the world, and they have the ability to have a fulfilling life, both inside and out.
Foreward Clarion Review – “What keeps the pages of Hayworth’s life story turning is her honesty, tenacity, and sheer will to survive through an astounding number of setbacks. Inside/Outside proves the resilience of the human spirit and shows that the cycle of abuse can indeed be broken”
Kirkus Review – “A harrowing memoir of one woman’s struggle to cope with sexual abuse and depression while living in – and eventually leaving – the Jehovah’s Witnesses”
Readers Favourite 5 Star Review – “The book is an inspiring story for those who are going through traumatic times…”
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Memoir
Rating – PG-13
More details about the author
Connect with Jenny Hayworth on Facebook & Twitter

@GayleTrent Shares Writing Tips for Becoming a Better Writer #AmWriting #SelfPub #Mystery

1)      Read, read, read.
Reading within your genre as well as within other genres will make you a better writer. See what works for you as a reader and what doesn’t. Incorporate the good traits and resolve to eliminate any bad habits you observe.
2)      Study writing blogs, books, and sites.
You might feel like you’re an expert once you’ve gotten your book published, but there’s always more that you can learn. Writer’s Digest, other authors’ websites, genre-specific magazines, and writing newsletters can help you understand what mistakes other authors are making and how to avoid those mistakes. For instance, one writing ezine often discusses disreputable publishers and agents, warning other writers to say away.
3)      Watch TV and movies.
Yep, you read that right. Watching television and movies helps you to understand what’s popular and can help you to see issues in ways you might never have considered. Let’s say you watch a detective program. It could give you insight into why your villain behaves as she does. Granted, your villain might not be a murderer, but her long history of abuse could explain her actions.
4)      Subscribe to agents’ and editors’ blogs.
They know the industry like no one else. If you want to know what’s going on in the publishing world, this is an excellent place to start.
5)      Follow Publisher’s Weekly on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pubweekly) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/PublishersWkly).
6)      Learn to proofread.
In order to properly proofread your own work, you might have to read the story backward or in some other order to truly see the words. When we’re proofing our stories, we tend to see what we believe is there.  If our intention was to write, “We took the dog to the groomer,” then we’ll see that even if we’ve actually typed, “We too the dog to the groomer.” The eye skims right over that missing k, and the mistake isn’t highlighted as such by my word processing software.
7)      Learn to self-edit.
Self-editing differs somewhat from proofreading because it is more involved than correcting typos. Self-editing includes fixing flaws. Did your character say something that doesn’t ring true? Have you used the word jump ten times on the same page? Does your character behave in a way that isn’t faithful to her personality for no apparent reason? Once you’ve had your work edited by a professional, you’ll be more aware of what to look for. In the meantime, do a search for some helpful articles.
8)       Listen to how people actually speak.
To do dialogue well, you need to truly listen to people talking. This is another good thing about watching movies. The first time I picked up an Elmore Leonard novel, I thought, “Huh? This guy doesn’t follow the rules.” But his dialogue rings so true! He uses dialogue to create characters that are realistic.
9)      Experiment.
Write outside your comfort zone. If you don’t write poetry, try a poem to see what you can come up with. I took a creative writing class where students had to read a short story in a particular genre and then write a story in that genre. We had to write western, science fiction, romance, horror, mystery, and even how-to instructions. Stretch your limits—you might be surprised at what you can do.
10)   Write.
All the study in the world won’t make you a better writer if you don’t simply put your butt in the chair and write.
Embroidery shop owner Marcy Singer is about to have the rug pulled out from under her….

Marcy can’t wait to see the new exhibit at the Tallulah Falls museum on antique tapestries and textiles, including beautiful kilim rugs. But her enthusiasm quickly turns to terror when, the day after the exhibition opens, she discovers a dead body behind her store, the Seven-Year Stitch, wrapped up in a most unusual fashion.

The victim appears to be a visiting art professor in town for the exhibit. Did someone decide to teach the professor a lesson, then attempt to sweep the evidence under the rug? Along with her boyfriend, Detective Ted Nash, Marcy must unravel an intricate tapestry of deception to find a desperate killer.
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Cozy Mystery
Rating – PG
More details about the author
Connect with Amanda Lee on Facebook

@ScottMoonWriter on the Pseudonym Dilemma & the #SciFi Writer (#WriteTip)

Three reasons authors use pen names:
1)      To avoid embarrassment
2)      To try something new
3)      To avoid genre confusion
Points two and three are related, and in this case, using a pen name is probably a good idea. The readers of your bestselling spy thriller might not be interested in your young adult novel. And it might be hard to promote a story book for kids and the next 50 Shades of Gray on the same web site. Establishing a pen name for each genre you choose to write could be a good idea.
Danger:
Facebook and Google have strong prohibitions against multiple identities, and frankly, it isn’t easy to create multiple profiles. I looked into it, and found the process beyond my moderate computer skills and the warning flags scared the daylight out of me. Could an independent author succeed after being banned from both Facebook and Google?
Not likely.
Goodbye social media. Goodbye author platform.
But if you must:
Kindle Direct Publishing allows the use of pen names. I researched this option because I write Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Crime Thrillers. Like many writers, I mix and match with pretentions to try about anything that can be made with words, including Romance, Steampunk, Historical Fiction, and various hybrid genres no one is likely to ever read.
Call me a daydreamer who writes, and you wouldn’t be wrong.
It is easy to create Twitter profiles and blogs, but I always worry that an internet user with more skill than I’ll ever have will immediately see that all the profiles are the same person. My decision not to use a pen name comes down to time management. I’d rather write than decipher Facebook.
A good argument against pen names:
One of the keys to selling books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords is the ever-popular backlist. Simply put, the more books you publish, the more they promote each other. Search engines find your name and your work more frequently. Loyal readers try other things you have written.
It’s a veritable paradise of indie-publishing glory.
Okay, it’s a lot harder than the Instantly Sell Millions of Books in your Spare Time and Never Work Again books make it seem. Developing an author platform is hard work. It takes time to write the books, fiction or nonfiction, and more time to market them.
Why diffuse your efforts using multiple pen names?
I believe using pen names in a smart, responsible way is a viable strategy for both indie and traditional authors. My advice is to proceed with caution.
What’s your advice?
I read more blogs than I write. If you have thoughts on pen names, or recommended articles, please let me know. This is a topic I’ve considered deeply and researched to the best of my knowledge, which is to say, I’m a student a welcome your advice.

Lost Hero

Changed by captivity and torture, hunted by the Reapers of Hellsbreach and wanted by Earth Fleet, Kin Roland hides on a lost planet near an unstable wormhole.

When a distant space battle propels a ravaged Earth Fleet Armada through the same wormhole, a Reaper follows, hunting for the man who burned his home world. Kin fights to save a mysterious native of Crashdown from the Reaper and learns there are worse things in the galaxy than the nightmare hunting him. The end is coming and he is about to pay for a sin that will change the galaxy forever. 

Books

Enemy of Man: Book One in the Chronicles of Kin Roland was written for fans of military science fiction and science fiction adventure. Readers who enjoyed Starship Troopers or Space Marines will appreciate this genre variation. Powered armor only gets a soldier so far. Battlefield experience, guts, and loyal friends make Armageddon fun. 

Movies

If you love movies like Aliens, Predator, The Chronicles of Riddick, or Serenity, then you might find the heroes and creatures in Enemy of Man dangerous, determined, and ready to risk it all. It’s all about action and suspense, with a dash of romance—or perhaps flash romance. 

From the Author

Thanks for your interest in my novel, Enemy of Man. I hope you chose to read the book and enjoy every page. 

If you have already read Enemy of Man, how was it? Reviews are appreciated! 

Have a great day and be safe.
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Science Fiction
Rating – R
More details about the author
 Connect with Scott Moon on Facebook & Twitter

@CarinKilbyClark's #WriteTip for Your Best Foot Forward at Conferences #Parenting #AmWriting

Ever since I started writing, one of the things that came up is whether I should go to a conference. For writers, for bloggers, for entrepreneurs – there are more conferences than I could ever hope to attend. Last year I attended a conference for bloggers and business owners, and was a little nervous with it being my first one. There was a lot of pre-conference conversation around what to wear, how to interact, whom to meet and network with.
One of the things I decided to do was not put too much thought into it. I was going to be myself and just have fun. Which is exactly what I did; and it was the most successful strategy I could’ve had. This year, I’m attending a total of three conferences. And while I’m no expert, I do think there are some key actions that can make anyone’s conference experience more than worthwhile.
How to put your best foot forward at conferences:
Put your best foot forward at conferences by dressing to impress. Whatever impression it is that you want to make, dress accordingly. I like to present myself as super professional but fun too. So, I normally choose clothing that will best display that side of me. As they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression – and while many of the people you will meet at conferences are folks that you have likely interacted with on the interwebs, it’s important that your in-person persona be someone to remember (in a good way, of course!).
Put your best foot forward at conferences by remembering that they are all just like you. When you attend a conference where you are potentially meeting and interacting with influencers and experts in your niche, it’s easy to go into celebrity mode. But it’s important to remember that they are all people. Just. Like. You. So treat them the way you want to be treated, and do not go into a fan-crazed state.
Put your best foot forward at conferences by being yourself. This is so important and can be hard for people when they are trying desperately to impress. But you must remember to be yourself. Don’t make up erroneous facts, don’t go out of your way to tell jokes or stories (unless it’s your truth), and don’t ever pretend to be something or someone that you aren’t. Remember that the people you click with naturally are the ones that you want to know. You don’t have to be anyone but you in order to make that happen.
Carin Kilby Clark is the author of the ebook, Time Management Made Easy for Busy Moms: 5 Simple Tips on How to Control Your Time and Get Things Done (April 2014, Clue Consulting, LLC). If you want to learn how to finally put time on your side, then this book has the goods that you need – and for less than the cost of a cup of coffee. Buy your copy today!

Do any of these excuses sound familiar?

I’m just too busy
I have too much on my plate
There’s never enough time
I have to do it all
I don’t know how to manage it all

If you answered yes, then prepare to put an end to the overwhelm once and for all. In Time Management Made Easy for Busy Moms, Carin Kilby Clark shares five simple tips that moms can implement right away to improve how they control their time and get things done.

Time Management Made Easy for Busy Moms offers insight into the one major block that prevents us from maximizing our time, gives readers practical information that is easily applied to everyday life, and helps you along the path to your “aha” moments about how and why you’ve been ineffective in managing your time; and how to to finally put time in its rightful place {on your side, of course!}.

As the mother of three very active children who also works full-time, runs a business in her “spare” time, publishes a lifestyle & parenting site, manages a growing motherhood community, and regularly contributes parenting advice to many popular sites in the parenting/family life niche, Carin’s advice is solid; based on methods that she has successfully implemented in controlling her time and getting things done.
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Parenting, Relationships
Rating – G
More details about the author
Connect with Carin Kilby Clark on Facebook & Twitter

IS YOUR CHAIR KILLING YOU? by @KentBurden #NonFiction #AmWriting #Wellness

If you are struggling with your weight, listen up. The work that Marc Hamilton, PhD and Dr. James Levine are doing points directly to one conclusion: Sitting down is your worst enemy. Even if you look at only healthy people who exercise regularly, the ones who sit the most have larger waistlines and have more unhealthy markers like higher blood pressures, higher blood sugar levels and more heart disease and cancers than those who sit less often. Even more proof that remaining in the seated position for too long adversely affects your waistline even if you exercise. 

In fact, people who sit for more than three hours each day are just as fat whether they exercise or not. You may be thinking that this is just not possible; after all, the people who are exercising are burning more calories, so it follows that they should be thinner, right? Wrong. Hey baby, the numbers don’t lie. The problem is that we burn only a small percentage of calories during exercise. Most of the calorie-burning we do during the day happens not while we are “exercising,” but while we are just living our everyday lives. 

When you spend most of that time sitting, your body’s metabolism is basically in hibernation mode. Sitting is one of the most inactive things you can do. You burn more calories standing around twiddling your thumbs or chewing gum than you do just sitting in a chair doing nothing. When you are seated, electrical activity in the muscles drops — “the muscles go as silent as those of a dead horse,” Hamilton says, which leads to a series of harmful metabolic effects. Your calorie-burning rate immediately plunges to a third of what it would be if you got up and walked. Insulin effectiveness drops within a single day, and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes rises. So does the risk of being obese. The enzymes responsible for breaking down lipids and triglycerides — for “vacuuming up fat out of the bloodstream,” as Hamilton puts it — plunge, which in turn causes the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol to fall.
The average person can burn an extra 60 calories an hour just by standing. Now, you may not be able to stand all day, but if you incorporate one to five minutes of movements every hour that use upper and lower body strength, balance and flexibility in short bursts like the ones in this book, you are right back up there near that 60 calorie mark. These short bursts of movement also keep your body from going into that hibernation mode that happens when you sit without getting up for long periods of time. “But just avoid the chair is the simple recommendation, as much as you can,” according to Dr. Hamilton. Ok, so we’ve got all figured out now, right? The biggest problem with sitting for long periods is that you burn less energy, which makes it easier to gain weight and, conversely, harder to lose weight…or is it? There also seems to be a “physiology of inactivity” that has a cascading effect on lipids, enzymes and body chemistry that is detrimental to our health and may cause us to gain weight. So the problem is two-fold. Not only are we burning fewer calories as we sit but our body is producing-or not producing- chemicals, enzymes and fats that stymie our ability to stay lean and healthy.
This is where many people throw up their hands and say “I’m screwed, just dig a hole and I’ll jump in.” But there’s evidence that the solution to this problem may be a simple one. To find out more read Is Your Chair Killing You?

Sitting for extended periods of time is as bad for your health as smoking cigarettes. And exercising for 30-60 minutes a day isn’t enough to undo the damage from extended periods of sitting. Is Your Chair Killing You reveals shocking new research showing that sitting for long periods greatly increases your risk of developing obesity, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer. 

Our bodies were designed to move constantly over the course of the day, but most of us sit for hours a day at work and at home! Fitness and wellness expert and award-winning author Kent Burden has created brief, simple movements you can incorporate into your daily life to combat the damaging effects of sitting. These simple movements, done standing for 1-5 minutes each hour will burn calories, energize and refresh you, and you won’t even break a sweat; you’ll even improve your back pain. This book is a how-to for weight loss and disease prevention. Read this book–you’ll be healthier in as little as 8 minutes a day.
Nominated for the Dan Poynter Global Ebook Awards and won honorable mention at the Los Angeles Book Festival
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Non-Fiction
Rating – G
More details about the author
Connect with Kent Burden on Facebook & Twitter

Colin is Back! #Excerpt from Unfinished Business by @Ted_Tayler #Thriller #MustRead

‘Will someone please track down his passport photograph? He holds a British passport; he only got one at the last minute so he could get away to The Gambia with his boss when we were closing in on him over the Gibson girl’s murder. At least it will give us something useful to match against any CCTV images we can come up with.’
Phil Hounsell was warming to his task now; he could feel he had the room with him, there were no heads looking out of a window or staring at the ground, indicating that they thought this was a waste of time.
A young female officer spoke up. She was seated at the back; Phil couldn’t remember her being introduced when they arrived perhaps she had crept in while he was in full swing earlier.
‘It would be useful to get a credible image of this man out to the police authorities immediately surrounding our patch. He won’t be sitting around in the city waiting for us to pick him up. Our role in this investigation could well be all but over.’
Danny saw that Phil was about to explode; he stood up and walked forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with his old boss.
‘We didn’t come all the way up here to pass the ball on to someone else, okay?’ he said, fixing the young woman with a stare, and then looking at each of the other officers in the room ‘This is personal for us. We know this guy. You would all walk by him in the street without a second glance. He’s invisible; which makes him extremely dangerous. Phil Hounsell touched Danny Bevan on the arm, a silent thank you for the support, but also a signal that he was back in control of his emotions and ready to continue. He carried on Danny’s theme.
‘We had our suspicions about the deaths of both of his parents; sloppy police work and Bailey’s cunning and intelligence left us with very little except suspicions. After Sharron Bailey’s death her parents both went off the rails for some time, who wouldn’t? Karen Bailey hit the bottle and her husband was cheating on her with his boss Sue Owens. In 2003 a local councillor started a campaign to clean up the gang culture that was rife in the town and was shot dead by a member of one of the gangs. We believe now that Colin Bailey had some personal grudge against this councillor and when someone else took him out, this was the final straw and nine people were killed inside a couple of hours only a few days later.’
‘We were persuaded to believe at first that it was the two gangs flexing their muscle, but one of the dead men was the doctor who had delivered Sharron Bailey fifteen years previously and had performed a hysterectomy on her mother. Subsequent inquiries by the medical authorities suggest that this doctor was rather too keen to subject patients to the knife and eliminating the possibility of Bailey’s wife ever having any more kids was almost certainly too hasty; knowing what we know now about Colin Bailey’s attitude towards people who have caused him grief, then this doctor was yet another long term target.’
‘Karly Gibson was a young girl who, like many of her generation, was footloose and fancy free. There was no evidence she was particularly promiscuous, but she had friends and boy friends like I have Indian takeaways. She was also pretty much the age his daughter would have been if she had lived. Colin Bailey killed her. We could prove that. She met Bailey in a pub and chatted to him when she felt like it and ignored him once too often. It was as simple as that; I don’t believe he was attracted to her sexually; I reckon she reminded him of Sharron and he would have taken her under his wing like the daughter he had lost.’
‘We were so close to picking him up! He got away by the skin of his teeth and joined his boss in The Gambia. She had sold her home, her business, cashed in everything so they could be tucked up in a safe haven while we were left powerless to react. How much she knew about what Colin Bailey had done, who knows? If she did know and helped him escape then they must have had some incredibly strong bond. What sort of woman could love a stone cold killer like that?’
The room fell silent.
The young female officer spoke again ‘Are you on his radar Sir?’
Phil Hounsell looked at her again. She wasn’t much more than twenty five, maybe five foot five and about seven stones wringing wet. She blinked at him from behind her distinctive red rimmed glasses.
‘I didn’t catch your name, sorry’ he said.
‘Mouse, Sir’ called out Dave Butcher one of the senior members of the local team. Several of the other people in the room laughed. The young girl blushed.
‘DS Zara Wheeler, Sir’ she replied.
‘I’m afraid so Zara’ answered Phil.
‘We had better find this Colin Bailey then, before he finds you’ Zara said, blinking again.

The sequel to the award winning ‘The Final Straw’ sees Colin Bailey return to the UK after almost a decade abroad. With a new name and a new face he still has scores to settle. His meticulous planning takes him ingeniously across Scotland and the North of England ticking names off his list with the police completely baffled. 

DCI Phil Hounsell pitted his wits against Colin before and so he is sent to Durham where he teams up with super intelligent young DS Zara Wheeler; together they track their man to Manchester and then eventually south to Bath. 

The final scenes take place on the streets of the Roman city; Phil Hounsell’s family is threatened and in a dramatic conclusion reminiscent of Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, the two men struggle above the foaming waters of the historic Pulteney weir. 
Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords
Genre – Thriller
Rating – PG-18
More details about the author
Connect with Ted Tayler on Facebook & Twitter