Monday 8 December 2014

Featured Book for December: The Watchers Book One, Knight of Light by Deirdra Eden

Every month, I will be featuring a book on my blog.  This month, I'd like to give it to Deirdra Eden.  Deirdra has been a long-time on-line/blogger/writer friend.  I was excited to hear about her new book, 

The Watchers:  Book One - Knight of Light.  

If you like reading fantasy and paranormal, this book is for you!


The Watchers Book 1: Knight of Light



In England, 1270 A.D., Auriella (pronounced yurr-ee-ella) flees her village after being accused of witchcraft. Pursued by nightmarish creatures, she struggles to accept the truth about her humanity. Filled with fairies, dwarves, pixies, dragons, demons, and monsters, Knight of Light is an enthralling tale that will capture the imaginations of readers young and old.


The Watchers Series has been described as Braveheart meets Supernatural. The mythology for the series is based on many theological texts from dozens of sects with correlating themes. Ancient writings include The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Traditional Apocrypha, The Pearl of Great Price, and The Kabbalah.

“The Watchers” are supernatural beings in human form whose duty it is to protect and guard mankind from the armies of darkness. Unfortunately, as the Book of Enoch mentions, some of these Watchers go bad. Although the mythology is based on these texts, Deirdra Eden’s The Watchers Series is written in a traditional fairytale style with a young girl’s discovery of incredible, but dangerous powers within herself, a cast of humorous side-kicks, a quest for greater self-discovery and purpose, and villains of epic proportions




About the Author


"My goal in writing is to saturate my books with intrigue, mystery, romance, and plot twists that will keep my readers in suspense. I want to see fingerprints on the front and back covers where readers have gripped the novel with white knuckles! Aside from writing, I enjoy jousting in arenas, planning invasions, horseback riding through open meadows, swimming in the ocean, hiking up mountains, camping in cool shady woods, climbing trees barefoot, and going on adventures."
-Deirdra Eden

Find Deirdra Eden and The Watchers Series online on AmazonDeirdra's websiteFacebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Wattpad, and Pinterest.


Thursday 4 December 2014

The Jedi has returned!

Err.  Actually, it isn’t a Jedi.  It’s just me.  And I am not a Jedi.  But you already know that.

It is Novem…wait, no, it is December! Crickey! It’s really been that long, folks.  I’m sorry I have not been in touch.  I am here now to tell you what’s happened.

Well, you know when my father passed away in 2012, right?  It has now been two years and I still miss him.  I guess it’s true that when a loved one dies, we really don’t stop missing them….but somehow, we get used to their absence and it helps to think that they are somewhere safe.

There has also been a couple of wearisome situations that, somehow, made me re-examine my life.  I began to spend so much time thinking and so much time overthinking things.  In the process, I lost all inspiration to write.  Because I thought it was, one way or the other, a waste of time.  Because I thought that there were more important things I should be focusing on.  Because there were (and still are) so many reasons in my head to procrastinate and stop believing in myself.  These thoughts were like waves – they were worse whenever I’d be in a life crisis or a new challenge.  So, for a long time, I had lost my sense of self. 

And then, somehow, somewhere, something happened to my little brain again so that now, everything is slowly coming back to me.  It’s slow but it’s alright.  There were little moments this year that helped me come back right here, here with you, here in front of my computer screen – to write again.

So, today, I don’t intend to bore you with the details of why, how or what I was sad about during my absence.  Instead, I’d like to go back a little bit and share with some important moments. I know that perhaps, these moments have now passed me by.  Still, they keep me smiling and they have kept me going. I’m done being sad.  I’m done being cynical.  I’m done with all the thinking and not writing and “not doing.”

Here are some of the things that made my day this year and still put a smile on my face whenever I think of them:

In April, I finally got the chance to meet these awesome people who have been an inspiration to me. Jessica Bell and Talli Roland became my blogging buddies in 2010. What a joy to finally see them in person and spend time with them.  I also met two lovely people – Alison Morton and Amie McCracken.
Jessica, Talli and me!
With Talli
With Jess, Amie and Talli
In May, my son’s carers gave me an awesome birthday surprise! What a delight!
It was a delicious lemon cake!
Sometime in June-July, I’ve learned about box swapping! I swapped surprise gift boxes with another writer friend, Cath Barton.  It was amazing!
Loved all the little things neatly wrapped individually inside my box of surprises!
In July, my husband celebrated his birthday.  We were happy to have a little celebration as last year was a scary time for us when he's had heart bypass surgery.  This year, it was time to be thankful and celebrate.


In August, my son celebrated his birthday without having to visit the hospital.  We were able to take him with us for a short break in Scotland. He has been really well for a few months now and we are truly happy.


And this year, I was able to sort out a little place where I can write during the summer months (still thinking of how to keep the place warm in the winter months):

I am ready for more special moments like these.  I know that along the way, it won’t be easy.  But there really shouldn’t be any reason good enough for not writing, for not being able to do what I love to do.  I must find time – no matter how busy life gets, no matter how sad life gets, no matter how uninspired I get – because really, nothing is ever going to change.  Life will always be busy and there will always be times when there is no motivation whatsoever. If I don’t find time to write, I’ll lose the very essence of me.

Signing off for now.  Until next post.


Friday 24 October 2014

Jessica Bell's White Lady Blog Tour

Today, I give the floor to the talented Ms Jessica Bell, an author, a poet and a singer/songwriter (I can't think of anything she cannot do!)

GUESS THE TRUE STATEMENT & WIN JESSICA BELL’S THRILLER, WHITE LADY! (Statement #90)


To celebrate the release of Jessica Bell’s latest novel, WHITE LADY, she is giving away an e-copy (mobi, ePub, or PDF) to the first person to correctly guess the one true statement in the three statements below. To clarify, two statements are lies, and one is true:

The first concert Jessica Bell ever went to was  ...
a. Kylie Minogue
b. Madonna
c. Smashing Pumpkins

What do you think? Which one is true? Write your guess in the comments, along with your email address. Comments will close in 48 hours. If no-one guesses correctly within in 48 hours, comments will stay open until someone does.

Want more chances to win? You have until October 31 to visit all the blogs where Jessica will share a different set of true and false statements on each one. Remember, each blog is open to comments for 48 hours only from the time of posting.

If you win, you will be notified by email with instructions on how to download the book.

Click HERE to see the list of blogs.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
*This novel contains coarse language, violence, and sexual themes.

​Sonia yearns for sharp objects and blood. But now that she’s rehabilitating herself as a “normal” mother and mathematics teacher, it’s time to stop dreaming about slicing people’s throats.

While being the wife of Melbourne’s leading drug lord and simultaneously dating his best mate is not ideal, she’s determined to make it work.

It does work. Until Mia, her lover’s daughter, starts exchanging saliva with her son, Mick. They plan to commit a crime behind Sonia’s back. It isn’t long before she finds out and gets involved to protect them.

But is protecting the kids really Sonia’s motive?

Click HERE to view the book trailer.
Click HERE for purchase links.


Jessica Bell, a thirty-something Australian-native contemporary fiction author, poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist, is the Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal and the director of the Homeric Writers’ Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca. She makes a living as a writer/editor for English Language Teaching Publishers worldwide, such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, MacMillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning.

Connect with Jessica online:














Monday 20 October 2014

Happy Birthday, Lenny!

I cannot believe how long it has been.  Again.  There is a lot to say but today is something special.

Today, my special friend Lenny Lee is celebrating his birthday and this post is dedicated to him.  Lenny is such an inspiration to so many of us in the blogging community.  He brings sunshine in my world when I'm feeling down.  It brightens up my day when I see an email from him.

Lenny, happy happy happy birthday, my dearest!  You are one of the best! Lots of love and big hugs!

Thursday 3 April 2014

Where have you been?

Who?  Me?  Whoa!  Has it been that long?  I cannot possibly believe this. Nevah!

You still there?  I certainly hope so.

It's been a long absence, I agree. And yes, it needs an explanation, don't you think?

If you were following me before my extremely long absence, you may have noticed that my posts became very sporadic.  It's about time that I tell you this.  My mind was elsewhere most of the time in those days.  I didn't know what to write about.  I was worried and scared about life and the future and most of all, I was so unsure of myself.  I guess, I still am, if I am honest.  But today, I thought, "well, s*d it, I'm going to come back and write again. No matter what life brings.

The year I stopped writing was the year my father passed on.  It was the saddest year of my life.  The following year, my husband had an open heart surgery.  That scared me to the core.  Not to mention my son's visits to the hospital as well.  That is basically a brief catalogue of the critical points of my life during my absence.  In between these points, I was in a state of mental turmoil.  I was not sure if I should be writing about those life events on my blog.  Because I was in doubt, I didn't.  I also put my writing-in-progress aside, literally.  I've put them away, in a bundle, so I won't see them.  My inner voice wanted to write but there was also another voice telling me not to.  I listened to the not-to.  Then the voice left me.  It probably got tired talking to me.  No matter what I did, I couldn't find the words anymore to write.

Overtime, I began to lose my sense of self.

My sense of identity.

My inspiration.

I thought I'd just live to exist and be a wife and a mother.

And it was not enough for me.  I knew I could do better.  I felt I could do something more.

Slowly, I picked up the pieces - "my" pieces...and I am still trying to put them back together.

I am getting the inspiration back.  I am getting everything back.  My sense of self.  My sense of identity. At the same time, still trying to be a good mum and a wife.  It is possible to shuffle and juggle.  Give each one of these things a little bit of love and attention, with just the right amount in every pot, I guess.

That's why I'm here.  Again.  With you.

There will be more of me.  More stories to tell.

This is only the beginning, ha! Watch this space, my lovelies!!!!